VMblog spoke with Terry Shea, CRO, and Oleg Chunikhin, CTO at Kublr.  

VMblog:  As a KubeCon 2018 sponsor, how can people find you at the show this year?

Terry: We have a small booth (S/E 17) located between one of the lounges and the lunch seating area. Booth visitors will have the opportunity to meet Slava Koltovich (CEO), Catherine Paganini (Head of Marketing), and me who'll be demoing Kublr. We'll also have some nice perks: t-shirts (with a cool design), a lanyard/bottle opener (perfect for the reception on Tuesday) and VR Headset as a raffle prize. There are a lot of good reasons to swing by.  

VMblog:  Is there anything interesting or unique about your booth?

Oleg: We'll have a live demo of Kublr running for people to check out. We welcome you to stop by, have a look and ask questions.

VMblog:  If an attendee likes what they see and hear at your booth... what message about your product can you send them back with to sell their boss on your technology?

Terry: This really depends upon where their company is in terms of container adoption. The Kublr platform makes it easy for IT operations to deploy, run, and manage Kubernetes on-premise or multiple-cloud environments. Kublr also provides advanced capabilities like custom cluster creation, "Spaces" and RBAC, and an API for advanced use cases. 

A few guides like Kublr Simplifies the Deployment, Scaling, and Management of Kubernetes will be available in hardcopy at the booth and it describes the overall context for why companies are using Kubernetes and what they should consider in choosing this solution. 

VMblog:  What are some of the reasons why you believe a KubeCon attendee should add you to their MUST-SEE list? 

Terry: Whether you're just getting started or have been running containers and Kubernetes for a while, the market is moving very, very quickly. We see large enterprises needing the operational and governance capabilities that Kublr provides as they deploy containerized applications on prem and in the cloud. As new use cases emerge from data science to IoT to the ever-popular digital transformation, you need a solution that is customizable but highly reliable. 

VMblog:  We recently asked Oleg why he created Kublr; what Kublr means to him. He simply stated, "Kubernetes done right". While it may sound like it came straight out of our marketing department, he really meant it.  Oleg, why don't you explain what you mean by "Kubernetes done right"? 

Oleg: Sure. The whole idea is not to modify or build a layer on top of open source Kubernetes but extend it instead. This brings multiple benefits:

• You're not locked in as you're still running open source Kubernetes
• We don't negate some of Kubernetes' core benefits (e.g. portability, flexibility, openness)
• We unlock benefits that would otherwise require a lot of work and expertise to utilize. 

While upstream Kubernetes provides a lot of flexibility in terms of configuration, it does require significant time and expertise to configure correctly (i.e. ensure security, reliability, self-healing, etc.). Kublr simplifies the process by:

• Making sure best practices are followed on all environments and platforms Kublr supports;
• Without locking users into the configurations Kublr recommends. Developers still have the flexibility to fully customize Kubernetes configuration, which is key for teams who seek to test or use new Kubernetes features or frameworks. 

VMblog:  Have you sponsored KubeCon before?  If so, what do you like most about this event?  And what brings you back as a sponsor?  

Terry: Yes, this will be the 4th KubeCon for Kublr. KubeCon is a must for any Kubernetes-based solution. It's probably the only conference with so much Kubernetes knowhow in one building. We always have great conversations with innovative minds that validate what we do-so that's always great. And of course, it's a conference that attracts a lot of organizations that are looking for a platform such as Kublr. 

VMblog:  Can you give VMblog readers a sneak peek as to what you will be showing off at your booth?  What should attendees expect to see and hear at your booth?

Terry: Of course, we'll be demoing Kublr. Attendees can see how Kublr allows operations to centrally manage Kubernetes clusters across different environments (AWS, Azure, GCP, on-prem, hybrid), how to set up a standard configuration cluster with just a few clicks or customize cluster specifications for advanced use cases. 

VMblog:  Thinking about your company, give readers a few reasons why your product or service is considered unique.  

Terry: Kublr has the most advanced operational features for enterprises running Kubernetes in multiple environments. It provides consistent deployment of core operational and governance features-from multi-cluster monitoring, to IAM and RBAC, to providing advanced capabilities for custom cluster creation and API interaction, Kublr has been designed to meet the needs of large enterprises.

VMblog:  How does your company and product fit within the container or cloud ecosystem?

Terry: Kublr is a platform for ops which makes it easy to deploy, run, and manage containerized applications and Kubernetes clusters. Kublr provides this for private, hybrid, and public cloud environments. We integrate with existing DevOps pipelines and tooling, provide flexibility in how you set up trusted registries, and enable additional advanced frameworks on top of Kubernetes like Istio and Spinnaker.

VMblog:  What do you think we need to do collectively as an ecosystem to strengthen the industry?

Oleg: Development tooling around packaging and deploying applications on Kubernetes could be improved. Standardization of the interactions of Kubernetes, apps and infrastructure in various environments could be improved which relates to handling network, inter-environment connectivity, and storage management.

VMblog:  Attendees always enjoy a good trade show tchotchke.  Are you guys giving away anything special or interesting this year?

We'll have some cool t-shirts, lanyards/bottle openers (very handy!), and an amazing raffle prize: VR headset.