Docker’s free open source tools have been long popular with developers. However Docker seems to want to move to monetizing its tools. It is fixing and rebranding its commercial platform which was known previously as Docker Commercially Supported Platform. It is now known to Developers as Docker EE.
This move towards monetization is vital for Docker as it races towards the next round of funding. If Docker EE is monetization ready, it will increase the valuation of the company itself highly. This is extremely desirable for a company before raising the next round of funding.
Embracing multiple environments essential for being monetization ready
Enterprise developers will be ready to pay for hitherto free open source tools only if they see value in it. The value they are seeking is for services to be deployable and workable across apps developed for and on multiple environments.
Docker EE offers Container-as –a Service ( CaaS). Containerization is essential in today’s work environments which follow Bring Your Own (BYO) policies. Containerization secures the enterprise from data theft as well as data loss. Docker EE has pioneered the Container-as-a-Service space.
However being a pioneer in this space is not enough drive usage of the product. It needs to address the contemporary need of developers, that it supports apps deployable on multiple environments like iOS, Windows and Linux to name a few.
Ready for the new Docker EE 17.06
This edition of Docker does just that. It now includes support for Windows Server 2016 and IBM Z Mainframe. With this major improvement, Docker EE will now deliver its true-to-form great experience for Linux, Windows and Linux-on-mainframe apps.
This version also includes retrograde fixes for defects in its open source code versions.
It can now handle heterogeneous clusters of nodes running on Windows, Linux or Mainframe. It also offers the potential to support hybrid applications.
Other new features include:
Brand new Role Based Access Control - Contemporized to provide high level of customization. Physical isolation of users on different nodes can be achieved effortlessly with this feature now.
Upgraded Docker Trusted Registry 2.3 – It has now made marking repositories “immutable” possible. This prevents image tags from being edited keeping the app repositories secure.
The new and improved Docker EE 17.06 does seem to have addressed quite a few concerns of developers. It remains to be seen if it will have the impact the company is seeking on its valuation.