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70% of global leading IT companies use Kubernetes, according to the State of Enterprise Open Source 2022 report. But not all of them hired tens of specialists and created an internal department specialized in k8s and infrastructure. There’s another way to land your app in the Kubernetes environment, manage, and operate it—it’s to outsource k8s services.
To name a few, Kubernetes support services are the following:
- Installation of the k8s environment
- Configuration of the containers and resources allocation
- Maintenance of existing k8s infrastructure
- Set up the monitoring system for the health indicators of the system
- Troubleshooting, bug fixing, and optimization of the infrastructure
These services’ main task is to keep any Kubernetes environment up and running, minimizing downtime and ensuring the high availability of any project function. Another big mission of k8s supporters is to optimize environments to reach peak performance and lowest maintenance costs.
Suppose you decide to hire specialists for these goals. In that case, you’ll get the main advantage—your business can focus on the core competencies without constantly thinking about infrastructure management.
The burden of caring about the underlying infrastructure eats lots of resources, and redistributing them into business tasks may be more profitable than you think. With k8s experts involved, even if they are relatively expensive to hire, you’ll get savings and a reduction of costly errors that are worth 10 times more than provided services.
Points to consider while hiring k8s support services provider
Selecting the best Kubernetes support service provider requires tens of factors to consider. Here are a few of them:
- Level of professional expertise in k8s. You need a team that leaves no doubt in their domain knowledge of containerization and orchestration.
- Solutions and skills to scale projects. The best teams have their own vision of scaling in k8s. The huge plus is the additional products they developed. Look at their open-source activity, any scaling solution that goes beyond the typical set of tools is a good sign.
- Reliability guarantees. The uptime of your project must be constant or nearly constant.
- Variants of customization. Assure that the service provider can create a bespoke solution right for your business; otherwise, you’ll miss some advantages and capacities that could be adapted.
- Cost optimization features. The price you pay for the k8s services won’t be low, so be sure that the company can calculate the final profit you get after hiring them.
- Different levels of involvement. Your service provider should offer different options for collaboration with your team: consulting, support, advisory, hands-on management, all-in-one maintenance, etc. Prepare your vision of future work with your hired k8s team to discuss it.
Price to pay for k8s support services
The cost of Kubernetes support services can vary depending on:
- The level of support required
- Period of time of service provision
- Number of specialists involved
- The company you want to hire
Some providers may charge a flat fee, while others may charge by the hour or offer tiered pricing based on the level of service required.
Basic support services typically include installation, configuration, and troubleshooting and may cost anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars monthly. More advanced support services, such as performance optimization, security, and compliance, may cost significantly more. Another support option is to temporarily hire k8s specialist to train the internal team to maintain infrastructure. Remember that everything is negotiable for companies that are interested in working with you.
Delegate to experts—else, create your internal k8s department
The Kubernetes century will last long, and you won’t risk as a pioneer with this technology now. So it’s up to your courage to start the positive change for your project today. When selecting a provider, look for one with a team of experienced experts, proven reliability, scalability, customization, and transparent pricing. By choosing the right Kubernetes support service provider, you’ll focus on the core competencies and get visible infrastructure improvements without direct participation in technical maintenance.
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