The country’s biggest companies are embracing containers and cloud platforms such as Cloud Foundry. That’s the conclusion of analyst firm RedMonk, which recently analyzed usage of cloud-native technologies among Fortune 100 companies. It found that 71 percent of those massive firms used containers, while 54 percent leveraged Kubernetes; a full 50 percent utilized Cloud Foundry. Data for the study came from “open source contributions, hiring data, client discussions, and public disclosures,” according to a note accompanying the analysis. “On a sector-by-sector basis we see, as would be expected, wide adoption of cloud native technologies within Technology companies,” read the analysis. “All Financial Services companies in the Fortune 100 are using containers, with 65 [percent] of them using Kubernetes.” However, sectors such as food, retail, and industrial lag in adopting these cloud-native platforms. “Many greenfield projects we hear of are moving to cloud native approaches. In certain cases, there is a distinct over rotation, far beyond what it is necessary towards certain new technologies,” the analysis added. “A solid foundation is required for a company to use a cloud native approach—and with these foundations in place (e.g. CI/CD, understanding microservices approach and so forth) enterprises will continue to expand their cloud native footprint.” For tech professionals skilled in cloud technologies, an analysis like this is good news. Last year, tech pros who specialized in Cloud Foundry, a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) originally developed by VMware, pulled down an average annual salary of $124,038, according to the latest Dice Salary Survey (PDF). Those who worked with Docker earned $118,873. In other words, having cutting-edge cloud skills can earn you a healthy six-figure salary, especially at a large company attempting to adopt technologies such as Docker as fast as humanly possible. If you’re curious about how Docker works, check out this Dice piece. In simplest terms, containers are lightweight virtual machines that allow developers and sysadmins to run code and use tools without worrying about the impact on their larger infrastructure; Docker is especially prized by such tech pros for its relative ease of container deployment and healthy support ecosystem. Amazon (via the EC2 Container Service) and Google (with Container Engine) also offer container services based on Docker. Docker’s (again, relative) ease of use has spurred enterprise adoption, according to a separate essay by RedMonk: “Unlike virtual machines, containers include the application and all of its dependencies, but share the kernel with other containers, an efficient model which maps cleanly to current development thinking in areas such as continuous integration and microservices.” As long as it (and other cloud services) help tech pros manage company infrastructure, adoption will only increase. And if you’re looking for a new suite of skills to adopt, you could do far worse. Big Firms Adopting Containers, Cloud Platforms
The country’s biggest companies are embracing containers and cloud platforms such as Cloud Foundry. That’s the conclusion of analyst firm RedMonk, which recently analyzed usage of cloud-native technologies among Fortune 100 companies. It found that 71 percent of those massive firms used containers, while 54 percent leveraged Kubernetes; a full 50 percent utilized Cloud Foundry. Data for the study came from “open source contributions, hiring data, client discussions, and public disclosures,” according to a note accompanying the analysis. “On a sector-by-sector basis we see, as would be expected, wide adoption of cloud native technologies within Technology companies,” read the analysis. “All Financial Services companies in the Fortune 100 are using containers, with 65 [percent] of them using Kubernetes.” However, sectors such as food, retail, and industrial lag in adopting these cloud-native platforms. “Many greenfield projects we hear of are moving to cloud native approaches. In certain cases, there is a distinct over rotation, far beyond what it is necessary towards certain new technologies,” the analysis added. “A solid foundation is required for a company to use a cloud native approach—and with these foundations in place (e.g. CI/CD, understanding microservices approach and so forth) enterprises will continue to expand their cloud native footprint.” For tech professionals skilled in cloud technologies, an analysis like this is good news. Last year, tech pros who specialized in Cloud Foundry, a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) originally developed by VMware, pulled down an average annual salary of $124,038, according to the latest Dice Salary Survey (PDF). Those who worked with Docker earned $118,873. In other words, having cutting-edge cloud skills can earn you a healthy six-figure salary, especially at a large company attempting to adopt technologies such as Docker as fast as humanly possible. If you’re curious about how Docker works, check out this Dice piece. In simplest terms, containers are lightweight virtual machines that allow developers and sysadmins to run code and use tools without worrying about the impact on their larger infrastructure; Docker is especially prized by such tech pros for its relative ease of container deployment and healthy support ecosystem. Amazon (via the EC2 Container Service) and Google (with Container Engine) also offer container services based on Docker. Docker’s (again, relative) ease of use has spurred enterprise adoption, according to a separate essay by RedMonk: “Unlike virtual machines, containers include the application and all of its dependencies, but share the kernel with other containers, an efficient model which maps cleanly to current development thinking in areas such as continuous integration and microservices.” As long as it (and other cloud services) help tech pros manage company infrastructure, adoption will only increase. And if you’re looking for a new suite of skills to adopt, you could do far worse. 
