Craig Anderson, Director at Frontier Digital Ltd, discusses the evolution of virtualisation, highlighting KubeVirt as a competitive alternative to traditional VMware solutions
Virtualisation has long been dominated by VMware. For over two decades, it has been the go-to solution for organisations looking to abstract workloads from hardware and manage complex environments. But the landscape is changing. Cloud-native platforms, particularly Kubernetes, are taking centre stage, and a new contender has emerged: KubeVirt.
KubeVirt is closing the gap. When paired with enterprise tools like Portworx and platforms like Red Hat OpenShift and SUSE Rancher, it now offers a credible, production-ready alternative to legacy virtualisation with Kubernetes-native principles baked in.
For the public sector and regulated industries, this is more than a technical shift. It’s a strategic opportunity to modernise and take control of platform costs while maintaining operational reliability and security.
Why virtual machines still matter
Containers are often positioned as the future of application delivery. They’re lightweight, fast to spin up, and work well with CI/CD and GitOps models. But virtual machines (VMs) haven’t disappeared.
Many organisations, especially in government and enterprise, still rely on VM-based workloads for critical applications. Whether due to legacy dependencies, security certifications, or simply the maturity of existing platforms, a complete shift to containers isn’t always feasible. At least not overnight.
KubeVirt doesn’t force the choice. Instead, it enables both running VMs inside Kubernetes clusters. This allows teams to treat VMs as first-class citizens in a Kubernetes world, applying the same scheduling, scaling, and security policies across all workloads.
KubeVirt and the open stack advantage
KubeVirt isn’t solving this alone. A powerful open-source ecosystem is driving maturity and adoption, bringing virtualisation into parity with (and in some cases, beyond) traditional platforms:
- Portworx: Critical for stateful workloads, Portworx adds volume provisioning, backup, migration, and disaster recovery to Kubernetes – essential capabilities for VM use cases.
- Red Hat OpenShift: As one of the leading enterprise Kubernetes platforms, OpenShift integrates KubeVirt, offering a stable, secure foundation with enterprise support and a powerful developer experience.
- SUSE Rancher: Known for flexibility and open architecture, Rancher includes native KubeVirt support, making it easy to deploy and manage hybrid workloads across clusters and clouds.
These technologies don’t just replicate VMware’s feature set; they reimagine it with Kubernetes principles: declarative configuration, GitOps workflows, automated scaling, and built-in observability.
The shift in public sector infrastructure
Public sector organisations are under increasing pressure to modernise platforms while managing cost, compliance, and operational risk. Many are exploring hybrid and multi- cloud strategies, digital transformation initiatives, and ways to simplify complex legacy estates.
KubeVirt, backed by a Kubernetes- native stack, aligns perfectly with these goals:
- Cost reduction: Avoid expensive VMware licensing and renewals by shifting to open-source, cloud-native platforms.
- Operational simplicity: Manage VMs and containers side-by-side, using the same tools and processes.
- Cloud flexibility: Run workloads on-prem or in the cloud without lock-in, thanks to portability and open APIs.
- Security and governance: Apply consistent controls, policies, and automation across all workload types.
This isn’t about ripping and replacing everything. It’s about building a platform that supports legacy needs while preparing for future innovation.
What’s different about KubeVirt?
The biggest change is mindset. Where traditional virtualisation tools treat infrastructure as something to be manually provisioned and managed, KubeVirt applies Kubernetes-native thinking:
- Declarative infrastructure: Define VM specs in YAML, version them in Git, and deploy with CI/CD pipelines.
- Unified orchestration: VMs run alongside containers, scheduled by Kubernetes, governed by RBAC and policies.
- GitOps ready: VM deployments can be automated, reviewed, audited, and rolled back just like any microservice.
This unification reduces complexity, speeds up delivery, and enables better collaboration across platform and application teams. Thanks to the growing KubeVirt contributor base, including Red Hat, SUSE, and the broader CNCF community, innovation is progressing rapidly.
Why Frontier?
We’ve helped organisations navigate this exact transformation, moving from traditional virtualisation to Kubernetes- native platforms that are resilient, scalable, and secure by default.
We’re a Kubernetes Certified Service Provider (KCSP) and proud partners of SUSE, Red Hat, and Portworx. That gives us unique insight across the open ecosystem powering this shift.
Our platform engineering approach is grounded in six principles that map directly to successful adoption:
- Optimisation: We fine-tune Kubernetes and KubeVirt environments for optimal performance, security, and cost efficiency.
- Transformation: We help migrate workloads from legacy platforms, such as VMware, to Kubernetes-native stacks.
- Adoption: We support teams through onboarding, skills development, and building confidence in new platforms.
- Design: We architect multi-cloud, hybrid, and air-gapped environments for secure and scalable operations.
- Enablement: We equip internal teams with tools, documentation, and reusable components, enabling them to own and operate platforms independently.
- Acceleration: We deploy fast, integrate seamlessly, and deliver value early.
We’ve done this for clients across the financial services, energy, healthcare, and public sectors, often with demanding compliance and uptime requirements.
The path forward
The shift away from VMware dominance doesn’t mean abandoning virtual machines (VMs) altogether. Instead, it’s about rethinking how we run them, integrating them into modern platform practices without compromise.
KubeVirt and its surrounding ecosystem offer a practical and secure approach to achieving this. And with the right engineering partner, the transition doesn’t have to be complex.
For public sector teams seeking to future-proof their infrastructure while meeting today’s needs, now is the time to explore what Kubernetes-native virtualisation has to offer.
You don’t need to pick containers or VMs. With the right platform, you can have both.
This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International.
