Published: 18 September 2024
Contributors: Stephanie Susnjara, Ian Smalley
Containers as a service (CaaS) is a cloud computing service that allows developers to manage and deploy containerized applications, giving businesses of all sizes access to portable, easily scalable cloud solutions.
Containerized applications are composed of software code packaged with just the operating system (OS) libraries and dependencies required to run them. They are agile, executable units (containers) that can run on virtually any IT infrastructure, from on-premises data centers to hybrid cloud and multicloud environments.
CaaS sits between infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS) in the cloud computing stack, providing a balance between the control offered by IaaS and the simplicity of PaaS.
What is IaaS?
Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is a foundational cloud model, allowing organizations to virtualize computing, networking and storage resources, and run other cloud services like software as a service (SaaS) or PaaS. IaaS platforms let teams fully customize components, from application stacks to operating systems, but the vendor manages computer resources and hardware.
What is PaaS?
Platform as a service (PaaS) functions at the code-stack level, letting users focus on higher-level app dependencies (for example, language runtimes). Still, it eliminates user control of the OS and limits portability across deployment environments. (Learn more about the difference between IaaS, PaaS and SaaS.)
CaaS puts the control back in the users’ hands by facilitating OS virtualization and customization and enabling container-specific deployment.
Try a highly secure, Kubernetes ecosystem for free on IBM Cloud.
Containers as a service (CaaS) provides a cloud-based platform where users can streamline container-based virtualization and container management processes. CaaS providers offer myriad features, including (but not limited to) container runtimes, orchestration layers and persistent storage management. CaaS also has unique integration capabilities that help businesses optimize their IT infrastructure.
Primary CaaS features include the following:
- Containerization
- Container orchestration
- Networking
- Platform configuration
- Security and access control
- Integration with other services
Containerization
When a user only works with a few containerized apps, it’s feasible to manage the containerization process manually. However, companies are increasingly relying on containers to make their IT infrastructure more agile, which means managing larger volumes of containers. CaaS allows teams to automate the containerization process to use the portability of containers at scale.
It’s worth noting that Docker was the first open source software tool to popularize building, deploying and managing containerized applications. However, the Docker container platform lacked an automated “orchestration” tool, which made it time-consuming and complex for data-science teams to scale applications. Kubernetes, also called K8s, was created to address these challenges by automating the management of containerized applications. Both Docker and Kubernetes are considered industry standards for containerized development and deployment.
Container orchestration
The orchestration layer of a CaaS system facilitates automated container deployment, load balancing, scheduling, scaling and lifecycle management processes across the IT ecosystem. As mentioned, the most popular container orchestration platform is the open source, Linux-based Kubernetes service, but other leading public cloud providers and cloud technology companies offer their own high-quality container orchestration services, including the following:
- AWS’s Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS)
- Google Cloud’s Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)
- Docker Swarm
- IBM Cloud® Kubernetes Service
- Microsoft Azure Container Instances (ACI)
Networking
CaaS platforms facilitate smooth communication between containers by using network overlays and software-defined networking (SDN) technologies to create virtual networks and optimize container connectivity.
Platform configuration
Users interact with container platforms through high-level, customizable application programming interfaces (APIs) or web portal interfaces that enable them to define resource requirements, networking settings and environment variables for containers and associated resources.
Security and access control
CaaS systems typically include flexible security features like role-based access control (RBAC), container isolation and container image scanning for vulnerabilities and network policies. These tools help organizations monitor and control traffic flow between containers in real time.
Integration with other services
One of the most impressive features of CaaS is its ability to integrate with other cloud-native technologies, such as managed databases, caching systems and message queues. For instance, CaaS can integrate with continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) and DevOps pipelines to accelerate product improvement and development processes.
Containers as a service (CaaS) enables businesses to focus on core competencies by abstracting the complexities of infrastructure management. With CaaS, developers can prioritize building and deploying apps without worrying about the underlying infrastructure or storage requirements.
Other notable benefits include the following:
- Scalability
- Portability
- Efficiency
- Collaboration
- Cost-effectiveness
- Support AI and ML workloads
Users can easily add and remove containers based on demand, making CaaS an excellent choice for businesses with fluctuating workloads and those looking to scale up quickly. CaaS platforms also include autoscaling capabilities that allow organizations to automate container scaling for an ultra-nimble migration experience.
CaaS helps businesses eliminate portability hurdles by automating containerization processes and facilitating seamless, serverless app migration across on-premises and cloud environments.
Containers are lightweight and require minimal computing resources compared to traditional virtual machines (VMs) and bare metal software, making them especially fast. Relying on container services can help teams quickly test, deploy and update containers without disrupting the entire IT infrastructure.
CaaS can foster collaboration and agility in a DevOps environment. For example, suppose that a CaaS-equipped software developer wants to resolve an issue with a new ecommerce platform. In that case, they can have the development team address issues with the container contents and operating environment while the operations team troubleshoots orchestration system issues. In other words, CaaS enables teams to work independently—but simultaneously—on different components of an application, enabling parallel development and faster iteration cycles.
CaaS service providers offer pay-as-you-go pricing models, allowing organizations to pay only for the services they use.
CaaS supports the complex lifecycle of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) projects, especially those with large language models (LLMs) associated with generative AI.
Businesses across sectors are turning to containers as a service (CaaS) for cloud solutions. In fact, the global CaaS market was valued at nearly USD 2 billion in 2022.1 Researchers anticipate that the market will be worth more than USD 7 billion by 2027, with a CAGR of 30.2% during that period.2 With market growth expected to accelerate in the coming years, it’s clear that CaaS services are becoming increasingly valuable for app developers worldwide.
Build microservices
Teams can use CaaS to build a microservices architecture, which breaks down apps into smaller services that can be developed, deployed and scaled independently. Implementing microservices improves the overall agility and speed of application development processes.
Facilitate DevOps
CaaS can also facilitate the transition to DevOps culture, wherein software development and IT operations teams work together throughout the software lifecycle. CaaS offers a shared platform where the teams can collaborate to develop and ship end products that better serve the user.
Enable app modernization and cloud-native app development
Furthermore, app containerization enables teams to modernize legacy applications faster. Containerized apps are especially portable, allowing teams to use the benefits of modern, cloud-native application development without needing to rewrite their applications from scratch.
Manage open source Kubernetes for high availability and secure containerized apps.
Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud uses Red Hat OpenShift in public and hybrid environments for velocity, market responsiveness, scalability and reliability.
Run your container, application code, batch job or function on a fully managed container runtime.
IBM research documents the surging momentum of container and Kubernetes adoption.
Docker is an open-source platform for building, deploying and managing containerized applications.
IaaS, PaaS and SaaS are the three most popular types of cloud service offerings. They are sometimes called cloud service models or cloud computing service models.
Application migration is the process of moving a software application from one computing environment to another.
Software-defined networking (SDN) is a software-controlled approach to networking architecture driven by application programming interfaces (APIs).
Cloud computing is the on-demand access of computing resources—physical servers or virtual servers, data storage, networking capabilities, application development tools, software, AI-powered analytic tools and more—over the internet with pay-per-use pricing.
Footnotes
All links reside outside ibm.com.
1 Containers as a Service Market worth USD 5.6 billion by 2027 - Exclusive Study by MarketsandMarkets, Cision, 30 November 2022.
2 Container as a Service Global Market Report 2023, Yahoo Finance, 1 June 2023.