Monetizing the Docker Disruption

It's clear Docker containers have emerged as one of the most disruptive IT forces to come down the pike in quite a while, with the potential to transform almost every aspect of the data center. What's less clear, however, is how Docker and its partners will make money.

At the DockerCon 2015 conference, Docker announced it plans to sell commercial support for both on-premise and cloud deployments of its software for $150 per month. In addition, Docker plans to offer those services through IBM (IBM), Microsoft (MSFT) and Amazon Web Services, which have already established their own networks of channel partners. At the same time, however, solution providers such as Booz Allen are working directly to with Docker to create, for example, DevOps frameworks based around Docker containers that they are delivering as a service.

Scott Johnston, senior vice president of Product for Docker, said the end goal is to create a broad ecosystem around Docker containers that is based primarily on a Docker registry service that can be deployed on premise or in the cloud and a variety of orchestration tools for managing those Docker containers.

For solution providers, the rise of Docker containers will impact everything from the number of servers that are sold to way applications are deployed and managed. Right now there’s a fierce debate over, for example, whether it’s better to deploy Docker containers on top of virtual machines to provide better security and leverage existing management frameworks or run them on bare metal tools using a new generation of management tools. At the same time, because Docker containers are much simpler to provision than virtual machines, many IT organizations are beginning to view them as the foundational layer for a new generation of operational tools that will enable developers to self-service their own IT requirements.

Whatever the Docker deployment model chosen, many IT organizations no doubt will be looking to external service providers to help them leverage Docker containers and transform their IT environments. Naturally, none of that is going to happen overnight. But it’s also clear that Docker containers already have gained enough momentum to become a force to be reckoned with across the enterprise. For solution providers, that means the point at which they can’t afford to be left behind has already arrived.