Docker Adoption is Ahead of Schedule

As virtualization and container apps continue to catch fire in the enterprise, a new survey has revealed that Docker adoption in particular is ahead of schedule, just four months after exiting stealth mode.

Docker is an open platform for developers and system admins to build, ship and run distributed applications. Consisting of Docker Engine, a portable, lightweight runtime and packaging tool, and Docker Hub, a cloud service for sharing applications and automating workflows, Docker enables apps to be quickly assembled from components, and strives to eliminate the friction between development, quality assurance and production environments.

The upshot is that IT can run the same app, unchanged, on laptops, data center VMs and in any cloud.

VMblog.com and CloudCow.com conducted a survey in early 2015 (sponsored by StackEngine) to understand Docker adoption, traction, challenges and usage patterns – particularly amongst VMware enterprises. It found that 70 percent of respondents are either using Docker or evaluating it in their organization. And, another 23 percent are familiar with the technology but not using it. Only 7 percent had never heard of it.

When asked about how Docker was currently being used or how the technology was intended to be used in the near future, the results were clear. Right now, most people are considering or using Docker within development or quality assurance (QA), coming in with nearly 53 percent and 64 percent support, respectively. About a third (31 percent) are already planning on using it in production.

When it comes to the biggest challenges in adopting Docker, concerns over security and a lack of operational tools for production topped the list, tied at 49 percent each. When it comes to the latter, the ecosystem lacks modern management tools, automation tools or even best practices for operations teams. All of this has created a deployment bottleneck.

Survey sponsor StackEngine is tackling the issue with a platform to deploy, manage and scale Docker applications. "We deeply believe that automation is the answer to an emergent problem in Docker and container technologies," said StackEngine CEO and co-founder Bob Quillin. "We also believe a new and radically different approach is needed. Containerization instantly shifts the problem up the stack. StackEngine bridges that gap and gives enterprises the ability to deliver product faster, deploy more frequently, operate more reliably and run wherever is most optimal."

Overall, the survey found that Docker usage is being driven from the middle out, rather than from the top down (like cloud) or bottom up (like development tools). It has strong grassroots support, with support especially among IT managers and architects.