Nutanix announced Nutanix Kubernetes Platform (NKP) to simplify management of container-based modern applications using Kubernetes. NKP enables customers to innovate faster with a complete, CNCF-compliant cloud native stack that gives Platform Engineering teams a consistent operating model for securely managing Kubernetes clusters across on-premises, hybrid, and multicloud environments. This can help customers deploy more cloud native and containerized applications that can ultimately run anywhere.

"Enterprises have standardized on Kubernetes to speed application development and simplify portability across the hybrid cloud. However, the DevOps culture has led to adoption of disparate Kubernetes environments within the same organization leading to operational complexity, overhead and silos," said Simon Robinson, Principal Analyst, Infrastructure, Enterprise Strategy Group. "Nutanix Kubernetes Platform offers a path to consistency across a fleet of Kubernetes clusters which can help drastically reduce cost of operations and speed time to market."

NKP targets a new class of Kubernetes Platform Engineering teams to bring enterprise resilience, day-2 operations, and compliance to modern applications at scale. For example, customers can manage clusters running containers on Nutanix on-premises and clusters running in the public cloud with one single pane of glass, cutting down on complexity and operating costs. It also enables organizations to manage clusters running in non-Nutanix environments, including popular public cloud Kubernetes services, as well as both connected and air-gapped environments. This helps customers innovate faster by removing the hurdles in adopting cloud native architectures for their applications.

"One of the biggest challenges organizations face with cloud native applications is deploying, securing and managing the rapidly expanding fleets of Kubernetes clusters being deployed on premises and in public clouds and NKP simplifies this," said Tobi Knaup, GM Cloud Native at Nutanix. "This work directly supports our vision, along with Project Beacon, to enable customers to run modern applications and their data anywhere."

NKP helps enterprises manage the operational complexity of running enterprise-grade kubernetes deployments. Specifically, it delivers:

• Kubernetes Platform for Data-Driven Apps: NKP integrates with the industry-leading Nutanix portfolio of data services, providing reliable scale-out block, file, and object storage, as well as databases-as-a-service.
• Simplified Kubernetes Management through Automation: NKP is powerful in its ability to simplify Kubernetes deployment, security, monitoring and upgrades through best-of-breed automation and AI-driven operational insights that reduce complexity and human error, and establish consistency and standardization.
• Complete Platform without Vendor Lock-In: NKP is built on pure upstream CNCF-conformant Kubernetes, enabling customers to enjoy the innovation of the open-source community while avoiding the portability, compatibility, upgradeability, and security issues associated with forked Kubernetes versions and single-vendor solutions. Additionally, because NKP is part of the cloud native ecosystem, customers can easily leverage CNCF-compatible partner solutions to build a Platform Engineering stack that fits their particular needs.
• Multi-cluster Fleet Management: NKP eases the management of Kubernetes clusters through a centralized management plane, a user-friendly dashboard that acts as a single point of observability and control for clusters running on-premises, in public cloud, edge, and air-gapped environments. NKP extends public cloud Kubernetes services like EKS and AKS with a full suite of platform services, giving customers a single standardized way of managing their entire Kubernetes fleet.

NKP comes in three tiers, giving customers what they need at their stage of maturity in cloud native adoption. NKP Starter is included in Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure and effectively replaces the existing Nutanix Kubernetes Engine. It delivers turnkey clusters with pure, upstream Kubernetes. NKP Pro adds a suite of cloud native projects to provide a complete platform to securely run and operate individual clusters, including built in Nutanix Data services for Kubernetes when deployed on Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure. Lastly, NKP Ultimate brings fleet management capabilities, including the ability to install, run and monitor clusters in the public cloud.

This solution also builds on the work that Nutanix will deliver as part of Project Beacon to help customers deploy more cloud-native and containerized applications that can ultimately run anywhere. Organizations will be able to leverage NKP to manage Kubernetes applications and their data as well as the modern data services available natively in public clouds, on-premises, at the edge, and even other hypervisors.

NKP builds upon mature Kubernetes management technologies proven at scale by D2iQ's Kubernetes Platform, which was acquired by Nutanix in 2023. NKP is expected to be available in the summer of 2024.