KubeCon + CloudNativeCon 2023 cloud-native vendor highlights

In the heart of the Windy City, from November 6-9, Chicago hosted the most well-known cloud-native events in the tech industry – Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America. The event brought in over 9,000+ attendees who together represented a diverse array of cloud-first companies and organizations at the forefront of cloud-native technologies. The theme of the event revolved around platform engineering with a focus on empowering businesses with the agility and flexibility needed to navigate the evolving digital landscape.

The keynote sessions at the 2023 KubeCon + CloudNativeCon NA conference featured cloud-native experts from major companies in the tech industry, including Tim Hockin, principal software engineer at Google, Tammy McClellan, Senior Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft, Kevin Klues, principal software engineer on the NVIDIA Cloud Native team, and Angel Diaz, VP of Technology Capabilities and Innovation at Discover, to name a few.

The speakers discussed a range of topics, including modernization, containerization, sustainability, security, edge computing, and platform engineering. The keynote sessions provided a unique opportunity for attendees to gain insights from industry leaders and to learn about the latest trends and best practices in cloud-native technologies.

Here are some highlights from my conversations with technology vendors at the event:

• Red Hat's OpenShift aims to pave the way for enterprise Kubernetes. At their booth, the company highlighted the latest advancements in container orchestration, hybrid cloud, and the integration of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. They focused on empowering businesses with the agility and flexibility needed to navigate the evolving digital landscape.
• Splunk, known for observability and security data analytics, showcased its latest innovations in observability. Attendees witnessed how Splunk helps organizations gain deeper insights into their applications and infrastructure. From real-time monitoring to predictive analytics, Splunk demonstrated how businesses can stay ahead of the curve by harnessing the power of data.
• At the Cisco booth, the focus was on the critical role of networking in the cloud-native ecosystem. Cisco emphasized its commitment to providing scalable networking solutions that seamlessly integrate with Kubernetes environments. Conversations centered around the future of networking, with an emphasis on security, performance, and automation.
• IBM showcased its expertise in multi-cloud environments, underlining the importance of hybrid cloud. Recent Enterprise Strategy Group research found that 94% of organizations run two or more clouds. From AI-driven insights to blockchain integration, IBM demonstrated how businesses can leverage the strengths of multiple cloud providers without compromising on security or efficiency.
• Zededa's Edge Computing emphasized the importance of decentralized infrastructure. We see in our research that 64% of organizations deploy resources at the edge. Our discussions revolved around the transformative potential of edge computing in optimizing latency, enhancing reliability, and supporting a new wave of innovative applications.
• Cast.AI introduced attendees to their automation for Kubernetes, a tool designed to simplify and optimize cloud resource management. Our conversations echoed the need for efficient resource allocation in Kubernetes environments, with Autopilot being hailed as a game-changer in achieving cost savings and performance improvements.
• JFrog's Artifactory showcased its role in revolutionizing software development workflows. Attendees could see how Artifactory's universal binary repository manager accelerates the release cycle to ensure seamless collaboration between development and operations teams.
• Mirantis highlighted its Kubernetes-as-a-Service offering, illustrating how it simplifies the complexities of Kubernetes operations. The spotlight was on empowering organizations to focus on innovation rather than the intricacies of managing Kubernetes clusters.
• Canonical, the driving force behind Ubuntu, emphasized its role as the preferred operating system for Kubernetes deployments. Our discussions revolved around the advantages of Ubuntu in terms of reliability, security, and performance for cloud-native applications.
• Chronosphere showcased its cloud-native monitoring platform, designed to empower DevOps teams with visibility into their applications and infrastructure. Attendees engaged in discussions about the future of observability and the role Chronosphere plays in driving innovation in this space.
• Pure Portworx's booth drew attention to its data services for Kubernetes, focusing on ensuring data resilience and availability in containerized environments. Conversations delved into the evolving landscape of stateful applications and the role Portworx plays in supporting their deployment in Kubernetes clusters.

Let's not forget WebAssembly (WASM), a low-level binary format designed to be a safe and efficient target for execution in web browsers; it is relatively new, but expanding rapidly. The technology enables running code written in languages such as C++ and Rust on the web platform. WebAssembly provides a portable and secure way to run code in the browser, making it a popular choice for developers who need to run computationally intensive tasks in the browser. With its growing support by major browsers and its ability to provide a faster and more secure execution environment than JavaScript, WebAssembly is quickly becoming an important part of the web development landscape.

Fermyon took the spotlight in discussions surrounding the transformation of edge computing. Attendees explored how WebAssembly enables the deployment of lightweight, secure, and efficient workloads at the edge.

Cosmonic and Wasmcloud demonstrated how WebAssembly supports microservices architectures. Attendees discovered the versatility of WebAssembly in enhancing the security, performance, and scalability of microservices applications.

KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2023 attendees were left with a lasting impression of the cloud-native innovative advancements for today and in the future. The event served as a hub for new ideas, collaborations, and advancements in cloud-native technologies, highlighting the collective dedication to shaping the future of the industry.

 As the event ended in Chicago, the ripples of inspiration and insights are sure to have a lasting impact on the tech industry.

Enterprise Strategy Group Principal Analyst Paul Nashawaty has extensive knowledge of digital transformation initiatives, including platform engineering across front-end, back-end, on-premises, and cloud-based applications.

Enterprise Strategy Group is a division of TechTarget. Its analysts have business relationships with technology vendors.