Kubernetes must never mean flying blind.

Before choosing a platform, we look at which applications are to be onboarded and what the teams need. How are new versions deployed today? Which data persists permanently? Who handles changes to the platform? These questions help narrow down the required scope. Kubernetes can make sense, but it must fit the applications and the available skills. A decision based on a desired technology alone would leave the additional organizational and technical effort unaddressed.

Suitable options are therefore also examined for how tasks are distributed. With a managed service, it remains to be clarified which tasks relating to the application, configuration and data are still necessary. The target state names these remaining in-house tasks and defines which of them OTOKO® takes on within the engagement. A representative pilot application makes the requirements tangible. It can be used to check whether the chosen setup and the intended processes actually meet expectations, before further teams or applications are added.

A team needs more than access to the cluster. It must know where it is allowed to work, how resources are allocated and which approvals apply to a production change. Together, these foundations are set up and connected to the deployment path. Images, checks and the intended version must fit together in a traceable way. The specific implementation follows your applications and existing tools; processes that already work are incorporated into the target state wherever appropriate.

The first release is carried out together. We check not only whether the application starts successfully, but also whether the process is understandable: can error messages be attributed, is the approval clear and do development and operations know when they need to act? Agreed failure scenarios and fallback paths are also discussed or tested. The resulting documentation is intended to support further releases. This gives your team a usable way of working, not just a technical environment whose operation still has to be figured out later.

Containers can be redeployed, but the associated data and connected services require their own procedures. Together, we look at which information must be retained permanently and how its recovery is verified. This also includes the sequence in which the application and data become usable again. A backup procedure must therefore match the actual application. Tasks are explicitly assigned, so that no gap arises unintentionally between platform support and application responsibility.

Platform updates also need preparation and coordination. Dependencies, testing options and required approvals are described in the operating procedure. Monitoring and reporting channels define how problems are detected and passed on to the right people. For ongoing support, the scope names which platform and operating tasks are covered and which remain with your teams. This distinction makes it easier to deliberately take on new requirements later and to plan the necessary work on the platform realistically.