Docker promises no legacy app left behind, unveils paid-for Docker Desktop

Docker promises no legacy app left behind, unveils paid-for Docker Desktop

Docker took a leaf from the script of Blackhawk Down today as CEO Steve Singh opened its European shindig with a cry of no application left behind.

The vendor also used Dockercon Europe to take the wraps off an enterprise version of the core desktop product, that it claimed would bridge the gap between dev and ops, by giving the latter “just enough control” over the former.

As “software is eating the world” Singh made the case for containers being at the heart of modern software development in traditional enterprises who know they need a strong dose of digital transformation, but can’t afford to cut loose legacy applications or systems of record.

Containerization – presumably Docker containers – would allow companies to modernise legacy apps and use them as a basis for innovation, and building the “unique” customer experiences that will keep them in business, he said. For a little longer, at least.

The firm highlighted its recent tie-up with Mulesoft, geared around containerizing legacy applications, and its offering to do the same with Windows Server 2008 and 2003.

Docker also used the Barcelona get together to announce Docker Desktop Enterprise, which it said will allow developers to take (new) applications all the way into production without making IT ops pull its hair out – and all without needing much expertise in, er, Docker.

Chief product officer Scott Johnston claimed the product would “satisfy” the natural tension between developers and ops – without once mentioning DevOps.

Perhaps unhappily for the growing Docker ecosystem, the firm said it would allow developers “an alternative way to build containerized applications without requiring Docker expertise.”

It claimed the platform would allow developers to build production-ready containerized applications, with “one-click installation and setup of a complete Docker and Kubernetes development environment for Mac and Windows.” No other environments are slated at this time.

Developers will be able to work with their chosen frameworks and languages and will have the choice of using GUI workflows or showing off by using a CLI.

The IT side of the house is promised the ability to securely configure, deploy and manage developer environments, and the ability to enforce corporate standards and practices. Images will be digitally signed, and compromised images blocked.

It will use version packs to ensure the developers’ desktop environment matches the production Docker Enterprise environment, and allow environments to be deployed across distributed developer teams.

Or as Johnston put it, it gives ops “just enough control…without slowing [developers] down.”

As for satisfying that Dev/Ops tension, the enterprise desktop will presumably also satisfy the company’s need to monetise the basic Docker platform. Docker Desktop Enterprise – as its name suggests – will be a paid for product, though the company said the pricing model and pricing points will not be revealed until general availability.

The public preview of Desktop Enterprise begins in January. General availability is slated for sometime later in the first half of next year. You can sign up here.