I'm currently the only person in my IT department managing our Azure cloud for a mid-sized organization (150-200 employees), and we're hosting various internal applications. We're using a hub-and-spoke topology for our workloads, and I'm working on improving our architecture as we move more applications to the cloud. I'm also teaching my colleagues about Terraform and Azure to help us scale our cloud efforts effectively and cost-efficiently. I'm considering whether to stick with the advanced Azure setup involving VMs and open-source tools, or to transition to using Kubernetes with Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). I want to know if AKS might be a better fit since our workloads include both internal uses and public-facing applications that need scalability. All our web apps are designed for container deployments, and I appreciate Azure Container Apps for their zero-scaling feature. However, I'm aware that moving to AKS is a significant leap, especially for my team who are mostly unfamiliar with Kubernetes. I'm eager for insights on the pros and cons of each approach, particularly regarding management complexity versus capability.
2 Answers
While AKS has its benefits, I think it's overkill for a small-to-medium organization, especially if your team is just getting started with cloud infrastructure. Container Apps or App Services might be better for now—they balance usability with scalability. You should only consider jumping into AKS if there's a clear need for its complexity; otherwise, it might turn into a maintenance challenge as your team gets up to speed.
Starting out directly with Kubernetes (AKS) can be quite overwhelming, especially if your team is new to cloud technology. I'd recommend beginning with Azure App Services or Container Apps. These options offer scalability and cost benefits while being much easier to manage. They will also provide a gentler learning curve for your team, allowing you to gradually build up to more complex solutions if needed.
That's solid advice! I began with App Services and then transitioned to Container Apps for function-based containers, and I really liked them.
Thanks for the input! I’m leaning toward developing our Azure setup more and using Container Apps primarily and VM when needed. Any tips on better using VMs?