Mastering Application Deployment: Why We Choose Kubernetes Over Alternatives

Kubernetes has become one of the most talked-about platforms in cloud infrastructure and DevOps; but why? At NewRedo, we recommend Kubernetes as our default deployment platform for modern digital services, because it delivers scalability, reliability, and long-term value. In this post, I’ll explain what Kubernetes is, why we favour it, and what alternatives business leaders should consider when shaping their cloud strategy.

What is Kubernetes?

Kubernetes is a platform for running applications reliably and efficiently at scale. It allows clusters of computers (physical or virtual) to operate as a single system, automatically managing how applications are deployed, monitored, and kept online. Originally developed at Google and now governed by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation, Kubernetes is open source and vendor-neutral, making it highly flexible and widely supported. Kubernetes provides essential platform services: it is fault-tolerant, keeping applications running even if the underlying machines fail. It includes standardised logging and security, and supports integration with modern DevOps tools through accessible interfaces.

But its power and flexibility come at a cost: it is complex. This is to be expected; a cloud-agnostic platform for running all types of applications can’t avoid complexity. If you choose to let a cloud provider run the Kubernetes components for you, there may also be additional direct financial implications. So, is this cost and complexity worth it? Let’s have a look at the other options.

What is the alternative?

Run it on my machine

The simplest way to run an application might be to manually install the program on a computer and to “put the machine on the internet” by assigning it a public IP address. That would work, up to the point when something goes wrong. When it does, you need to have a mechanism to restart the application if it stops, and a way to upgrade the application when a new version is available. Then hope that the chosen machine is powerful enough to handle the load (but not so powerful that you’ve overspent on it). And that’s not even considering the security posture of such a system!

There are, of course, ways to solve these problems, but they typically involve fiddly manual processes or custom “scripts” that are non-standard and can be error-prone.

Perhaps an Application Server would help?

Application Servers were designed to standardise how enterprise applications were hosted. In the Java ecosystem, these were large, resource-heavy programs that provided services like email sending and session management. They were useful in theory, but often bloated in practice. They required applications to be packaged in a specific way and depended on a single runtime (like the Java Virtual Machine).

Other software stacks were available, but their dependency on proprietary technology meant that none gained a useful level of traction. . They usually attempted to separate operational and development concerns, but often failed to meet the real needs of either group. Developers, in particular, found them too restrictive for rapid development. The very popular Spring Framework for Java was developed out of a dissatisfaction with the overly complex “Java 2 Enterprise Edition” (J2EE) programming model. It offered a simpler focus on Web applications, running in a single part of the J2EE platform, the Web Container. It was a strong sign that the developer community did not embrace the Application Server framework.

Docker

Then Docker came along and disrupted the market. With Docker, any application, no matter what language runtime or flavour, could be run in a standard way on Linux servers. Multiple instances could even be run side-by-side with robust isolation between the applications. But this still needs the containers to be managed to restart when they fail, and the individual machines running Docker to be carefully managed. This is indeed how we have set up some of our clients’ applications. Those with complex environmental dependencies and lifecycles are more suited to a more bespoke hosting solution, although this means that we can’t benefit from the platform services that Kubernetes would provide

Kubernetes

And so we arrive at Kubernetes, where any application packaged as a Docker Container is securely run in a fault-tolerant way, on virtual machines that can be managed safely without interrupting the applications running on them. These capabilities mean we can deploy diverse applications across multiple clients, teams, and tech stacks with consistency, automation, and minimal operational friction. This accelerates delivery timelines, reduces risk, and gives our clients confidence that their services can scale and recover quickly, even under pressure. While there is a cost for the complexity when setting the cluster up, but this can be managed by using a Cloud-hosted instance, where you pay for the Kubernetes components as well as the virtual machines running your application. Running multiple applications on a shared cluster helps amortise the setup and operational overhead, making Kubernetes even more cost-effective.

This is our default strategy when deploying new applications, and we have several client and internal applications running on Kubernetes clusters in the cloud. These services span different technology stacks and workflows, but Kubernetes gives us consistency where it matters most: reliable, automated deployment that gets applications into customers’ hands faster. We are able to scale up the size of the cluster when required and easily migrate running applications to different virtual machines when maintenance is required.

Summary

For these reasons, Kubernetes is our preferred platform for deploying and managing modern digital services. While it introduces some technical complexity, the strategic benefits of greater scalability, improved reliability, faster time-to-market, and cloud portability consistently outweigh the operational costs. For our clients, this translates into more resilient services, better resource utilisation, and the ability to respond quickly to change. By deploying multiple applications within shared Kubernetes clusters (where appropriate), we further reduce infrastructure overheads and operational burden. In short, Kubernetes helps us deliver robust, cost-effective solutions that support long-term business agility and growth.

If you're considering how best to scale your digital services or modernise your infrastructure, we’d be happy to explore how we could support your goals.