Prior to DockerCon EU
I attended DockerCon Austin in 2017 and frankly DockerCon EU was not on my radar screen — not because I didn’t want to go (I did), but because it was in Europe and just seemed a stretch. One afternoon a couple of months ago
gave me a call and asked if I would be interested in speaking at DockerCon EU 2017 in the new Transform Track. It took me about 2 seconds (maybe less) of thoughtful analysis to say YES!The Transform Track is built around addressing the non-technical challenges bringing Docker and microservices to the enterprise. I had outlined some of these in my talk at DockerCon in Austin and Docker asked if I would be interested in expanding on the theme of high velocity, fail fast, learn fast innovation that MetLife (my employer) leveraged to tackle a pretty awesome success story. I’ll cover that in more detail in another post — but it was pretty cool to learn that MetLife’s ModSquad was getting some street credibility!
I met with Jenny and some of the Docker Crew a few times to go over ideas for my talk and learned that one of the biggest challenges many companies face introducing Docker, and disruptive change, is change itself. From a risk averse business environment, to operations staff seeing sprawl and a freight train of containers barreling down on them, to C-Stars not seeing the business value — the inertia to change is high.
Day 1 and Da’ Bomb
So I got to sit with the Captains up front, because I was now one of them. A Docker Captain. That was very cool and would have made my day, but then the Keynotes started and it got cooler.
Steve Singh, CEO of Docker, takes the stage and introduces himself at his first DockerCon. Steve talks about Docker in visionary terms, positioning it as a foundational element for the next generation of computing. Docker is a platform. Soon the topic turns to the Docker MTA program, or Modernizing Traditional Apps, which is a central theme carried through the keynotes and the entire conference. Essentially, enterprises no longer need to choose between innovation and maintenance. Docker lets them do both, and plans to be front and center providing a platform for that transformation for years to come.
and Ben Bonnefoy then show up with some awesome demo role-playing that harkens back to at least DockerCon Austin to show off the Docker Application Converter (DAC). This handy-dandy tool builds functional Docker images out of old application backups. Who’da thunk…This is a key theme obviously aimed at enterprise customers and the message should resonate. Containerizing traditional applications can result in significant infrastructure savings and provide an attractive day 0 alternative to a fully blown, microservice-based, application architecture. Baby steps…
Kristie and Ben’s skits provide an enjoyable break from the more traditional keynotes and they really seem to enjoy hamming it up a little and making the demos fun as well as descriptive.
Last year my boss, Aaron Ades, keynoted and kicked off the story of MetLife’s rapid transformation into microservices. This year my colleague Jeff Murr keynoted and talked about how MetLife has grown that transformation to include robust application delivery pipelines (aka shipping lanes), preliminary work and long term expectations for containerizing legacy applications via the MTA program, and the formation — since DockerCon Austin — of a Container and Open Source Platform Engineering team at MetLife. Pretty cool! I’m very proud of my personal collaboration with Jeff and I was excited to see him onstage talking about our container ecosystem evolution.
Jeff was followed by another demo, again by Kristie and Ben, introducing features of Docker Enterprise Edition enabling the orchestration of the previously converted Java application.
Almost finally,
takes the stage.Solomon talks about many things, in particular the 4 layers of the Docker stack; the container runtime, the orchestration layer, the developer tools, and the management services.
Then…BOOM!…Solomon announced support for Kubernetes natively on the orchestration layer alongside Swarm and integrated into UCP — seamlessly. This was a big deal and was kept remarkably secret. I spoke to a couple of Docker Captains who closely monitor the kubernetes PR’s and probably moby PR’s and they suspected the announcement. You can sign up for the beta here.
Initially it seemed like reception to this announcement was mixed. News was spun as either “Docker gives in” or “Docker embraces” and seemed to reflect the mixed sentiment of the folks at DockerCon however Docker consistently messaged a positive spin.
With my enterprise hat on I think this is a pragmatic move that resolves a primary conflict that enterprise users face. In the long run how can schedulers and orchestrators really differentiate themselves anyway? The challenge in the short term is that two primary shipping lanes in the deployment pipeline will natively co-exist, and operational complexity will increase as a result, although UCP should provide some offsets there as the single pane of glass into the cluster.
It seems that the writing is on the wall though, or at least it feels that way. In 2 years there will probably only remain 1 mainstream orchestrator, in my opinion.
Then, finally, Brendan Burns, co-founder of Kubernetes, takes the stage and talks up the integration, with a demo, and its pretty awesome. He closes by welcoming everyone to the Kubernetes family.
I have to admit this felt a bit weird. My brain conjured up images of Macworld Boston 1997 with Jobs and Gates partnering, but I couldn’t figure out who was Apple, and who was Microsoft, in this “accommodation”.
Time will tell, but I do think this is good for Docker, good for Enterprise users, and good for the Community.
Day 2
Keynotes kick off with Docker COO Scott Johnston and more focus on the MTA program. Clearly this is targeted toward enterprise customers and it should resonate. Scott states that 50% of customer’s top IT priority in 2017 is leveraging hybrid cloud. Docker’s message is they they are providing the platform to containerize (or modernize) traditional applications. Over the course of the Day 2 Keynotes Scott and team outline a three-step process including assessment, productizing, and scaling.
The numbers and detailed content of the Day 2 Keynotes are extensive and beyond my scope here. They deserve focused treatment. However, most of it is consistent with our MTA journey at MetLife so far. Obviously “modernizing” a “traditional” application is more extensive than slapping it into a container and running it on the Docker platform. Step 2, productizing, also includes security, testing, operationalizing, toolchain improvements, etc., etc.
Markus Niskanen from Finnish Rail and Ocas Renalias from Accenture discussed their MTA journey with Docker with the key drivers being cost, velocity, and quality.
Also noteworthy is Docker’s announcement that they are expanding their partnership with IBM and that IBM is joining the MTA Program. The key takeaways here are:
- IBM software in the Docker Store
- Docker EE on IBM Cloud
- MTA with IBM Global Services, IBM Cloud, and IBM Watson
So again, Day 2 is all about MTA, and now the MTA POC Program. This is key to Docker as it seeks to monetize the platform, and as an Enterprise customer I’m thrilled. However I do worry that the non-Enterprise community may begin to feel left out if an adequate balance isn’t found. I’m very confident that this will happen.
I think the additional message is that Docker and its partners have got your back with a demonstrable divide and conquer process. You don’t need to boil the ocean, and you shouldn’t. Enterprises can start where they want to start and grow at a pace that they are comfortable with.
Docker Pals
I’m not sure if Docker introduced the Docker Pals program in Copenhagen or earlier, but I signed up and volunteered to be a guide for folks that had never attended a DockerCon before. I was teamed up with 3 really cool guys from Europe; Rasmus Hansen, Vlastimil Zeman, and Sascha Oberhellmann.
Business travel in general can often by lonely, particularly when you are leaving a family at home. Conferences can be particularly lonely if you aren’t there with a colleague and don’t know anyone. Going to talks alone, tackling the exhibit floor, and standing around the after party by yourself can be rough. Been there and done that more than once.
So the super friendly folks at Docker created the Pals program to help break the ice for new attendees by pairing 2 or 3 new folks with veteran DockerCon attendees! I think it was great, even though I have to admit I wasn’t the most attentive guide as a result of my schedule. But I did manage to run into my teammates throughout the conference, kept in touch with Slack, and got to hang with a couple of them at the after party.
Docker Hallway Tracks
Hallway Tracks are something Docker has been offering since at least DockerCon Austin when they were called Moby Mingle. Hallway Tracks give attendees the opportunity to network via Offers and Requests for informational topics. These are one-on-one, topic specific, meeting requests that people will schedule with you, or that you can schedule with them. There is a 3rd option called a Group Chat which is exactly what it sounds like, a full-up meeting.
I dove in and created two Offers. The first was a direct follow-up to my talk in the Transform Track to continue the discussion around disruption and innovation, and the second was focused around using Docker Enterprise Edition in real life.
Both Offers received so many invitations to meet that I had them turned into 2 Group Chat sessions back-to-back on Wednesday — otherwise I would have missed the conference! I ended up meeting for a little over 2 hours, had some great discussions, made some great connections, and have some follow-up promises to meet over the next week or two.
I should also shout out to the amazing people staffing the Hallway Tracks! They were super helpful and I got a Hallway Track Hero pin!
Docker Customer Advisory Group
I also attended Docker’s Customer Advisory Group along with my colleague Jeff. Like most CAB’s and CAG’s this was an opportunity for Docker to share strategic info with Enterprise customers. More importantly, Docker listens to the concerns and challenges shared by those customers and asks for input on new ideas that Docker is considering.
I can’t share specifically what was discussed, or even key points, but I can share that it was clear that Docker is both hearing its enterprise customers and is clearly invested in charting a course that should meet the needs of both the enterprise and the broader open source community.
Oh and that Captains Thing!
A couple of months before DockerCon EU
asked me if I was interested in becoming a Docker Captain. Of course I was! I was nominated to become a Captain because of the work that I had done over the previous year advancing the adoption and proper use of Docker. So a few weeks later and a couple “why me” discussions I was added to the Captains program.Docker states that, “Docker Captain is a distinction that Docker awards select members of the community that are both experts in their field and are passionate about sharing their Docker knowledge with others.”
All of the current Captains are highlighted here.
My first introduction to the current Captains was via Slack and they were amazingly welcoming. Meeting the Captains that made it to DockerCon EU in person was even better. We received some swag, I actually got some Captains socks, and our DockerCon backpacks came with a Captains patch.
We had some pre-conference meet-ups, several of the Captains host workshops the day before the conference starts, we had reserved seating for the Keynotes, and we had a Hack Day after the conference.
I have to add that I’m both humbled and honored to have been awarded this distinction, its motivated me to begin blogging, and I’m looking forward to future collaboration with these super smart people.
That’s a Wrap
DockerCon was over and all that was left (in the short term anyway) was getting home. Along the way Steve Singh had taught some of us a new word, Hygge (pronounced `hue-ga`), which is a Danish word that refers to a form of togetherness, comfort, and equality. Steve used this word to describe the women and men of Docker and the broader Docker community. To me it also sums up DockerCon. The sense of community, collaboration, and innovation at both DockerCon’s that I’ve attended have set these conventions apart for me, and I’ve attended a lot of technical conventions!
Longer term my journey with Docker continues. I was just getting over Swarm Mode and figuring out all the new UCP and DTR coolness, now I’ve got Kubernetes integration to dig into.
Incidentally you can sign up for the beta with Kubernetes support. And you can watch all the Keynotes and Breakout sessions here .
I imagine the videos will show up on Docker’s youtube channel eventually, at least I hope so.
Finally, DockerCon would not be the awesome conference that it is without Ashlynn Polini, Jenny Burcio, Jenny Fong, Betty Junod, Victor Coisne, Mano Marks, and the rest of the Docker Crew.
Oh yeah, my opinions are entirely my own and do not reflect the views of my employer or any other organization that I mention or may be affiliated with