Yesterday, Docker Inc, the company behind the most popular container solution of the same name, underwent a series of transformations. We can safely say that they have been waiting for a certain time. After all, with the massive spread of Docker, the development of other technologies for containerization, as well as the rapid growth in the popularity of Kubernetes, there were more and more questions for Docker Inc products and business as a whole.
What was the answer? As the headline on one of the information resources said, βThe Unicorn [a company valued at $1+ billion] has fallen: Docker is abandoning the enterprise.β And that was the reason for such a statement ...
Mirantis buys Docker Enterprise business
The highlight of last night was Mirantis that the company is buying Docker Inc from their key business - Docker Enterprise Platform:
βDocker Enterprise is the only platform that allows developers to seamlessly build, share, and run any application in a secure manner anywhere from public cloud to hybrid cloud. A third of Fortune 100 companies use Docker Enterprise as their platform for innovation.β
The same press release states that acquired by Mirantis the Docker Enterprise team will continue to develop and support the platform, as well as the implementation of new features expected by enterprise customers in it. The latter, by the way, in Mirantis include the as-a-service approach that does not require maintenance, integration with Mirantis Kubernetes and other cloud technologies, as well as a proven business model for the corporate sector.
From the announcement of Docker Enterprise 3.0, at the end of April this year
Mirantis in 2013 its distribution of the popular cloud platform OpenStack and since then (until relatively recently) in the professional community has been associated with this particular product. However, at the end of 2016, the company introduced its Kubernetes training and certification program, after which other steps followed (for example, Mirantis Cloud Platform CaaS - Containers-as-a-Service - based on K8s), which clearly showed how the focus of the company has shifted towards K8s. To date Mirantis in the top 20 contributors to the Kubernetes codebase of all time.
(Mirantis Cloud Platform) - the current successor of the CaaS solution from Mirantis
Comment by Adrian Ionel, CEO and co-founder of Mirantis:
βMirantis Kubernetes technology, together with the Docker Enterprise Container Platform, brings simplicity and choice to companies moving to the cloud. It is delivered as a service and is the easiest and fastest path to cloud infrastructure for new and existing applications. Docker Enterprise employees are among the most talented cloud experts in the world and can truly be proud of their achievements. We are very grateful for the opportunity to create an exciting future together and salute the Docker Enterprise team, customers, partners and community.β
If until now Mirantis employed about 450 employees, the new acquisition ΠΊ huge expansion - for 300 people. However, according to Adrian, Docker's marketing and sales teams will operate separately for the first time as Mirantis aims to make this transition as smooth as possible for all customers.
Although the customer bases of Mirantis and Docker Enterprise overlap somewhat, the deal between the companies will bring Mirantis about 700 new enterprise clients.
Learn more about Mirantis' vision for the future of products β how the Docker Enterprise platform will fit in with the company's existing solutions β at which will take place on November 21st.
In Docker Inc itself sale of Docker Enterprise a new chapter in the life of the companyaimed at developers.
"The future focus of Docker is to improve workflows for developers focused on modern applications using the foundation already in place."
The βfoundationβ refers to solutions created during the life of the company, such as the Docker CLI utility itself, Docker Desktop, and Docker Hub. Simply put, now Docker Inc will focus on the development of products aimed at direct use by developers ( ΠΈ ).
That's how this announcement by IT veteran and Open Source journalist Matt Asay:
"I don't understand the 'selling our enterprise business to focus on developers' argument because developers are the key buyers/influencers in the enterprise, but I only hope for the best for Mirantis and Docker."
The actions of Docker Inc become more understandable thanks to the comments of its management. And the changes affected him too.
Docker Inc restructuring and new CEO
So, the sale of Docker Enterprise was not the only event yesterday in the life of Docker Inc. Along with this, the company on additional investments and the appointment of a new CEO.
Investment in volume 35 million USD were received from Benchmark Capital and Insight Partners, who have already invested in the company before. This amount is quite significant:
- total investment in Docker Inc since the company was founded (in 2010) about 280 million USD;
- lately at docker problems with attracting new investments.
The company also changed its CEO, and for the second time this year. Until yesterday, Docker Inc was led by Rob Bearden (former CEO of Hortonworks), who was appointed to the post in May. The new head of the already restructured company was , who has been with Docker Inc since 2014. His previous position is (chief procurement officer).
Scott Johnston, new CEO at Docker Inc, photo from
Comment from the company's previous CEO (Rob Bearden) on recent developments:
βI have joined Docker to lead the next phase of the company. After doing a thorough analysis with the management team and board of directors, we saw that Docker has two very distinctive and inherently different businesses: an active business for developers and a growing business for the enterprise. We also found that the product and financial models were very different. This led us to the decision to restructure the company and separate the two businesses, which should be the best solution for customers and allow Docker to successfully develop as a leading technology in the market.
Developers actively use the legacy of Docker, therefore, after the analysis, it was a natural decision to return the focus of Docker to this most critical community for us. Once the decision was made, I realized that Scott Johnston was the perfect candidate for the position of CEO in a restructured company. Scott's strong background in early product development is exactly what a Docker leader needs. Thanks to Scott for agreeing to take on the new role. We worked with him to ensure a gentle transformation."
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Source: habr.com