A lot of the discussion at this week’s KubeCon event focused primarily on projections about the future of Kubernetes, open source and the growing DevOps community.

We’re now at an inflection point where maturing technologies, such as artificial intelligence, are finding a home in Kubernetes. At the same time, Kubernetes’ user base has expanded to include expertise areas such as platform engineering and operations.

“My first KubeCon, which was the one during the pandemic, there was a lot of developers; [it was] developer-centric [with a] lot of developers, lots of engineers,” said Michael Cade (pictured, left), global field chief technology officer at Veeam Software Inc. “That progression has definitely come off to the [site reliability engineers], the platform engineering folks, the operations people.”

Cade and Tom Leyden (right), vice president of marketing for Kasten at Veeam, spoke with theCUBE industry analysts John Furrier and Savannah Peterson at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon NA, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed a dynamic and maturing Kubernetes landscape, where discussions have moved to address intricate challenges in security, data protection and operational complexities. (* Disclosure below.)

From Kubernetes basics to enterprise scale

Kubernetes is now matured, and as companies scale their dependence on it, the spotlight is now on security. With the release of version 6.5 of Kasten K10, there’s been an emphasized focus on enterprise scale and security, according to Leyden. The landscape is no longer just about educating users on the basics of Kubernetes; it’s about addressing the complexities that arise as it becomes more operational.

“One thing I want to link to that, on the security topic, is how the use cases are evolving,” Leyden explained. “So, when you look back at the videos of us talking two years ago, we’d be talking about backup all day long. But today, the use cases are more varied. We’re seeing, for example, a lot more customers talk about migrating their applications. So, our application mobility functionality comes in there.”

There’s also the introduction of Kanister, an open-source project contributing to the Kubernetes community. Kanister focuses on raising awareness of data protection and availability, providing a consistent approach to protecting databases within Kubernetes, Cade added.

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of KubeCon + CloudNativeCon NA:

(* Disclosure: Veeam Software Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither Veeam nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE