The Open Container Initiative that was announced this summer officially launched today, and Dell has joined as a member:
The Open Container Initiative (OCI), represented by a broad coalition of industry leaders focused on common standards for software containers, today is announcing its formalized technical governance structure to advance its mission while welcoming founding and new members.
Contain what?
In case containers ring a bell but you’re not exactly sure what they are or do, here is a quick explanation:
Containers encapsulate software, in the form of services or applications, so it can be moved — much in the same way that shipping containers are moved — as if development, testing, staging and production were all one environment. Containers also allow you to build once and run anywhere – whether that’s a public cloud, private cloud, or bare-metal server.
The goal of the Open Container Initiative, then, is to set standards in order to reduce fragmentation and increase interoperability within the container world. This in turn allows for greater innovation and adoption.
A larger context
Containers have become a key component within the world of DevOps. DevOps, if you’re not familiar, is a methodology whereby Developers and Operations work together to create a common workflow that spans from code creation all the way to the delivery of the app or service. By creating a unified culture and utilizing a wide array of new tools, DevOps has significantly sped up the development and deployment of software.
In a world where “slow is becoming the new down,” and software is the key driver behind goods and services, DevOps offers a critical advantage. Containers have emerged as the de facto vehicles within DevOps that carry these apps or services across the workflow. The result is the enabling of organizations to get to market quicker and be more responsive to customer requirements.
The Open Container Initiative will help to keep the technology from fragmenting allowing containers to fulfill their potential as enablers of continued competitiveness.