Back in 2015 Microsoft and Red Hat teamed up to develop cloud-based solutions for the enterprise market. Fast-forward two years, and both companies are joining forces once again, this time to enable enterprises to easily adopt containers.
Joint initiatives include Red Hat OpenShift Dedicated on Microsoft Azure, native support for Windows Server containers on the OpenShift Container Platform, and SQL Server on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and OpenShift.
Red Hat and Microsoft noted that managing the structure of container platforms is difficult, so the two are working on improving the situation by offering OpenShift Dedicated on Azure. Engineers from both sides are working to optimize OpenShift Dedicated on Microsoft"s cloud platform - the functionality will be implemented by early 2018.
In addition, Red Hat and Microsoft also plan to offer integrated support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux workloads on Azure Stack. Matthew Hicks, vice president of software engineering for OpenShift and Management at Red Hat, noted that:
Alongside Microsoft, Red Hat is providing a way for organizations to truly make the technology choices that matter to them, from containerized workloads to public cloud services, without adding an equal burden of complexity. Combined with our integrated support teams, we’re able to offer an achievable pathway to digital transformation that offers the capabilities, flexibility and choice required to power the future of enterprise IT.
Furthermore, Microsoft has also announced that it is introducing native support for Windows Server containers on OpenShift. If everything goes according to plan, the capability will make its debut as a Technology Preview in spring 2018. Meanwhile, SQL Server for Red Hat Enterprise Linux and OpenShift will be making its way to the market in the "coming months".
John Gossman, lead Azure architect at Microsoft stated that:
Microsoft and Red Hat are aligned in our commitment to bring enterprise customers the hybrid cloud solutions they need to modernize their businesses as they shift to operate in a cloud-native world. Today, we’re extending this commitment as we again join forces to bring fully interoperable solutions that simplify container adoption and help customers make the most of their hybrid cloud strategies.
With these announcements, Red Hat and Microsoft aim to drive the digital transformation for the enterprise market utilizing cloud-based solutions. The companies have stated that they will stand together to tackle any challenges being faced by the IT industry.