We’re proud to announce that Microsoft has as soon as once more been acknowledged as a Chief within the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Container Administration, for the third 12 months in a row.
We’re proud to announce that Microsoft has as soon as once more been acknowledged as a Chief within the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Container Administration, for the third 12 months in a row. We imagine this recognition displays the breadth, innovation, and real-world buyer impression of our container portfolio.
From Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) and Azure Container Apps (ACA) to our hybrid and multi cloud options with Azure Arc, Microsoft provides a complete container administration answer that meets clients the place they’re, whether or not they’re modernizing legacy functions, constructing cloud-native apps, or scaling the following era of AI apps and brokers.
A complete container portfolio, from cloud to edge
Azure provides a broad set of container administration capabilities designed to assist each builders and IT operators. AKS is a strong and versatile managed Kubernetes service that runs in Azure and may also lengthen to on-premises environments by means of Azure Arc and Azure Native. For groups that need serverless simplicity, Azure provides Azure Container Apps with scale-to-zero, serverless GPUs, and the power to run sand-boxed code.
This versatile method, starting from full management with AKS to ease of use with serverless containers, is tightly built-in with Azure’s broader cloud providers, together with networking, databases, and AI. It provides groups a unified platform that improves developer expertise, allows quicker AI innovation, and simplifies operations.
Developer expertise: Construct and ship quicker
Fashionable utility growth begins with empowering builders. We’ve targeted on enhancing the developer expertise throughout the complete container lifecycle.
- AKS Computerized (preview) streamlines Kubernetes for builders by provisioning manufacturing‑prepared, safe, and robotically managed AKS clusters together with node provisioning, scaling, upgrades, and CI/CD integration.
- Automated deployments for AKS simplifies utility supply by seamlessly pushing code modifications to AKS utilizing GitHub Actions or Azure DevOps.
- Developer instruments just like the Azure Developer CLI, Visible Studio Code AKS extension, and GitHub Actions make it simpler to develop domestically, combine with CI/CD, and deploy to manufacturing.
- GitHub Copilot, utilized by over 20M builders, brings generative AI seamlessly into container workflows, accelerating duties like writing Kubernetes manifests, Dockerfiles, and CI/CD configs.
We’re additionally investing in DevSecOps throughout our providers, enabling seamless integration of safety, testing, and governance into developer pipelines. Microsoft Defender for Containers, policy-based governance through Azure Coverage, and RBAC assist groups implement requirements with out slowing down innovation.
AI innovation: Constructing the following wave of AI apps
Containers are the inspiration for contemporary functions, together with AI and machine studying workflows. Microsoft has continued to give attention to making it simpler to run AI workloads in containerized environments.
- AKS helps GPU-optimized containers, enabling clients to coach and deploy fashions within the cloud or on the edge. Integration with Azure Machine Studying helps streamline mannequin lifecycle administration.
- Azure Container Apps serverless GPUs enable groups to deploy inferencing workloads effectively, with scale-to-zero and per-second billing.
- Microsoft can be contributing to open innovation on this house, together with by means of KAITO (Kubernetes AI Toolchain Operator), a CNCF sandbox undertaking that simplifies deploying open-source fashions on Kubernetes.
- Azure AI Foundry supplies quick access to over 11 thousand fashions, together with OpenAI GPT-4o and Meta’s Llama, for constructing safe, scalable AI apps.
These capabilities assist organizations run AI workloads extra cost-effectively, securely, and at scale.
Operational simplicity: Kubernetes that simply works
Working containers at scale typically requires deep operational perception. We’ve delivered a number of enhancements to assist platform and operations groups scale back complexity and enhance effectivity.
- Azure Kubernetes Fleet Supervisor allows policy-driven governance and workload orchestration throughout a number of AKS clusters—together with multi-cluster updates—simplifying platform administration at enterprise scale.
- With node auto-provisioning, AKS can robotically choose and scale essentially the most cost-effective VM sizes to match workload calls for, eradicating guesswork and serving to management prices.
- Azure Advisor provides AKS value suggestions designed to determine value financial savings alternatives and supply actionable insights tailor-made to your cluster configuration.
- Azure Arc streamlines edge and multicloud ops with unified Kubernetes administration utilizing GitOps, coverage automation, and built-in Azure instruments.
Our aim is to make operating Kubernetes as frictionless as attainable, whether or not clients are managing a single cluster or a worldwide fleet.
Prospects are attaining extra with Azure container administration
Organizations of all sizes and industries are utilizing Azure to modernize apps, drive AI innovation, and enhance operational agility:
- ChatGPT, the fastest-growing app, scales AI workloads globally to 500M weekly customers leveraging Azure Kubernetes Service, Azure Cosmos DB, and Azure GPU VMs.
- Telefônica Brasil has decreased name middle dealing with time by 9% whereas reliably managing over 5.3 million month-to-month queries with their clever I.Ajuda platform, constructed on AKS.
- The Coca-Cola Firm launched an immersive, AI-powered vacation marketing campaign throughout 43 markets utilizing Azure Container Apps and Azure AI Foundry, participating over 1 million customers in simply 60 days with sub-millisecond efficiency.
- Hexagon modernized its SDx platform with AKS, enabling dynamic scaling and nil‑downtime deployments that lower process processing instances from days to below an hour, leading to over 90% quicker buyer onboarding.
- Delta Dental of California modernized its cost system with a hybrid Azure Kubernetes answer managed through Azure Arc, decreasing infrastructure prices and guaranteeing compliance whereas dealing with 1.5 million each day transactions.
These examples underscore how Azure’s container administration providers are serving to companies transfer quicker, function extra effectively, and ship higher buyer experiences.
Wanting forward
We’re honored to be acknowledged once more as a Chief within the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Container Administration, however we’re much more energized by what’s subsequent.
Within the coming months, anticipate continued investments in:
- Simplifying fleet and multi-cluster operations.
- Increasing AKS to smaller footprint edge environments.
- Enhancing AI-powered cloud administration experiences.
Our mission stays the identical: to make constructing, working, and scaling containerized functions simpler, extra clever, and safer.
Be taught extra
Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Container Administration, By Dennis Smith, Tony Iams, Wataru Katsurashima, Michael Warrilow, Lucas Albuquerque, Stephanie Bauman, 6 August 2025.
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