7 Benefits of Containerization in Digital

Overview

A key characteristic of today’s web and application development environments is the emergence of DevOps - a set of practices that combines software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops). It simultaneously shortens the development process and provides continuous delivery of high-quality code.

One key component of DevOps is containerization--the practice of bundling software, libraries, and configuration files into “images” or “containers”. These containers are then isolated from one another to make them operate in a modular fashion—but can be made to easily communicate with one another through established protocols.

As organizations of all sizes improve their operations through Digital Transformation, they seek the most modern infrastructure offering the greatest agility and potential for innovation.

At XCentium, we believe that Containerization has a place in most modern software development efforts—but that it is particularly compelling when it comes to web and eCommerce development. This is unsurprising, as DevOps itself arose as a byproduct of the web-centric Agile development methodology.

Research predicts that more than 75% of organizations will run some form of containers in production by 2022. 

Here are 7 reasons organizations—particularly those whose digital footprints are sizable or complex—can benefit from leveraging containerization in their digital operations:

Dramatically reduced costs

It’s tempting to chalk the cost savings of containerization up to the ability to fit more virtual machines on a single server--but that’s only a small part of the equation. It is the performance gains of decoupling containers that make the cost of this infrastructure cheaper--and not just a little bit. The ability to reserve instances and not pay for Microsoft licensing costs are also huge here.

Faster deployment and enhanced integration

Since containers are smaller entities, they can be deployed much faster and with shorter startup times. Integration becomes easier as each container bundles together all needed configuration files, libraries, and dependencies needed for it to run--all but eliminating the systemic impacts of bugs and errors.

Self-healing resources

Being smaller in design makes containers less tightly bound or coupled, so if part of the system breaks down, organizations no longer have to worry about taking down the entire system. A container sets itself apart by automatically restarting on its own, all while allowing the rest of the system to perform normally.

Reduced digital transformation risks

Having isolated and lightweight apps work together on a single server reduces conflicts and errors, while enhancing productivity and efficiency. Containers help businesses optimize their infrastructure in a simplified and innovative process. 

Portability across digital workspaces

Once applications are written, they can run anywhere and on any system. A single container stands alone without being trapped within the host OS, enabling it to be portable and easy to move.

Scalability

Being a service-oriented application, a container can hold heavier workloads and scale with the addition of nodes. Containerization allows companies to scale individual parts of the application and add desired functions without impacting the entire application. 

Improved security

Having decoupled applications from the host system and other applications allows companies to share a single container setup without exposing data between other containers or the full OS. 

Having a microservice architecture, containerization provides organizations with more flexibility, scalability, and faster deployment using the same OS, all while delivering a cheaper and self-healing infrastructure.

At XCentium, we can offer these observations firsthand. We use containerization as the backbone of our Sitecore Flex product (a simplified, low-code version of a Web CMS platform from our partner, Sitecore) and have now implemented it for a handful of clients.

Be ahead of the competition with reliable applications on a solid infrastructure and automatically healing processes.

If your organization is looking to improve performance, simplify digital operations, and reduce costs, we’d be happy to share our knowledge. Contact us on the following email james.thomas@xcentium.com to arrange for a free consultation.

*https://searchitoperations.techtarget.com/feature/Dive-into-the-decades-long-history-of-container-technology