Launching Kubernetes apps on GCP Marketplace, for GKE, Anthos and beyond

One aspect of digital transformation that gets a lot of attention is application modernization via containers. According to a recent Forrester Research study commissioned by Google¹, 75% of enterprise app development leaders are containerizing more of their applications, helping to make developers more productive as they build custom apps and try to speed up release cycles.

Whether you want to use commercial software or an open-source project, a great way to boost your app modernization efforts is to use Kubernetes applications—enterprise-ready, easy-to-deploy containerized applications that can run in any Kubernetes environment. We announced the general availability of Kubernetes applications on GCP Marketplace at Google Cloud Next ‘19, and today we are excited to share more details!

Kubernetes applications: designed by listening to customers
Application development using containers and Kubernetes can be confusing. The feedback often sounds something like: “Can you make it easier for my developers to use and be productive on Kubernetes?” To make the experience better for new and experienced developers alike, we introduced  “application resource," in GKE, making it easy to view and manage applications and their components. The deployment mechanism supports popular packaging formats, such as Helm charts, to create the enterprise-ready, easy-to-deploy offerings available on GCP Marketplace today.  

Kubernetes applications are more than just container images. Standardizing on an application resource helps us treat a Kubernetes App as a single unit rather than individual core or workload resources. We went even further by supporting a deployer that understands these deployment templates. This means that we have now greatly reduced the complexity in debugging, monitoring and deploying Kubernetes-based apps.

Modernize where you are
App development is never limited to just one environment, so we built Kubernetes apps to be as dynamic as your teams. For less complex projects, you can deploy to GKE an enterprise-grade container orchestration service with a financially-backed SLA.

Among enterprises, a common strategy is to containerize applications on-premises before moving them to the cloud. Kubernetes apps support this scenario when you run them on Anthos, which lets you build and manage modern hybrid applications across environments. The first wave of apps that supports Anthos is starting to appear in the GCP Marketplace, and we are continually adding more. To see an in-depth demo of how you can use Anthos-based Kubernetes apps to build cloud-native applications, please see our presentation from Next’19. Additionally, we’re adding to the number of Kubernetes apps that support Istio and Stackdriver, for the full, integrated Anthos experience.

A strong open source and commercial ecosystem
A robust ecosystem is essential to enterprise application development. We offer a wide range of solutions as Kubernetes applications, including security, databases, developer tools, monitoring and more. In addition, we have Google-packaged versions of popular open source solutions such as PostgreSQL and RabbitMQ as well as popular open-source operators such as AirFlow. We’re also the first public cloud to offer commercial Kubernetes apps from Aerospike, Aqua Security, Galactic Fog, Kasten, ManagedKube, Portworx, and Robin.io.

GCP Marketplace for increased security and enterprise purchasing
To support enterprises that want to purchase Kubernetes apps, we are pleased to now support private pricing agreements between partners and customers, support for annual subscriptions (currently in beta), and like all GCP Marketplace offerings, one consolidated bill for GCP Marketplace solutions and GCP services.  

In the aforementioned Forrester study, 62% of app dev leaders prefer to procure containerized applications from a cloud marketplace rather than from a vendor directly. When asked about what advantages they see from using a marketplace to support cloud software development tools, 45% cite increased security. We scan all solutions on GCP Marketplace, including Kubernetes apps, for security vulnerabilities before we list them. Additionally, 75% in the Forrester survey want to try solutions before they buy them, so we now support free trials for Kubernetes apps as well as virtual machine and SaaS offerings.

Get started today
We’re excited to support your application modernization efforts, whether you’re starting on-prem or in the cloud. Kubernetes applications offer a simple, integrated way to incorporate open source and commercial offerings into your containerized environments. Get started today, and encourage your favorite partners to offer a Kubernetes app on GCP Marketplace.

In addition, we have integrated our marketplace with GKE Connect, currently in alpha, letting you connect non-GKE, Kubernetes clusters running on-premises or in other clouds to your GCP project. With this, you can log in, view and interact with Kubernetes workloads running across all of your connected clusters. This helps our partners build once and lets customers run these apps anywhere, on-premises or in the cloud. Sign-up for the alpha program here.

Come grow with us
Do you want to join the rapidly growing ecosystem of partners and solutions that are powering containerized application development and Anthos? Kubernetes apps offer the unique opportunity to list your solution in GCP Marketplace, and enable your customers to deploy on-prem, on GCP, or even on other clouds. Visit this page for more information.

_{1. Methodology: In this study, Forrester conducted an online survey of 466 companies in seven countries to evaluate the demand for procuring software development applications, tools, and services from cloud marketplaces.
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Research on behalf of Google, November 2018.
Base: 466 application development and delivery decision makers in IT and developer roles at global enterprises.}