It all starts from the Docker platform.
If you know about it, docker is a tool designed to make it easier to create, deploy, and run applications using containers. It is designed to eradicate the problems developers and system administrators face as a part of DevOps toolchains. The developers usually write the code without worrying about the system it will be running on. Here comes the role of containers making the application run on every system. It is available for developers to package the application with all the artifacts it needs and send it out as a complete package. With containers, developers can be rest assured that the application will run on any Linux machine regardless of any customized settings. So, this is how containers work for developers and administrators, giving them the ease of remaining confined to their systems.
But, application management is entirely different. It is a process of managing applications throughout its lifecycle. Traditional application management involves the process of the application being developed, managed, and improved. The application lifecycle comprises six steps, namely, requirement gathering, designing, building, deploying, operating, and optimizing regarding application management. However, this much information is not sufficient to understand the difference between these two terms.
| Factors | Application Management | Containerization |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Application management is the service operation function that is responsible for managing and supporting applications throughout their lifecycle. | It involves bundling an application and the related files, libraries, and dependencies to run it in a bug-free and efficient way across different environments. |
| Objective | The primary objective is to assist in designing and developing new applications and improve ongoing applications. The secondary aim is to undertake projects that are complex and time-taking. It handles them by streamlining its management tasks. | As it consists of an entire runtime environment: an application plus libraries, configuration files need to run it, and bundle it into one package, thus, making it easy for an application to run on every computing environment. It intends to simplify the job of application developer and administrator. |
| Benefits | There are several benefits of application management, such as broader visibility and control over applications, cost reduction, agility, technology obsolescence risk reduction, and streamlining IT audit and IT certification. | As a significant trend in software development, there are noticeable benefits of containerization to developers and development teams. The benefits include security, agility, speed, fault isolation, efficiency, ease of management, and safety. |
| Types | Since it involves all the steps from launch to retirement, there are types of application management such as change management, capacity management, release & deployment, incident management, asset management, and support. | The types or alternatives of containers are CoreOS rkt, Mesos Containerization, LXC Linux Containers, OpenVZ, crio-d. |
| Scalability | There is always a scope of adding more points to the steps of application management. Also, if it is about optimizing the process by reducing the steps, it refers to the scalability of application management. | The scalability of containers comes into existence depending on a particular scenario. Invest time in the architecture of container-based technology, determine the real scaling capabilities of applications, and consider your requirement. An approach that works for other companies may not be right for your container-based application.
And, consider scaling governance and security as well. |
| Scope | It has a broad scope as it ensures the availability and performance of applications. Also, it helps in responding to queries, incidents, service requests, and change requests. It is also about improving the technical behavior of the applications, and suggesting which application strategy will give the best of business value. | The future and scope are broader in comparison to application management. Containerization users can pull together multiple available functions, and finally, provision code to fill any gaps and glue together the various services, resulting in a highly resource-efficient system. The future of containerization will continue to grow. |
Containerization and application management are significant trends in software development, and their adoption is likely to grow in magnitude and speed. Though both terms contribute toward the optimal functioning of the application, they are different in terms of relevance and practicality.
The analysis is that both the functionalities are essential. Whichever solution you choose, it is required to fit with your application strategy, user requirement, cost, and size of the company. Also, whether the teams are skilled in implementing containerization and application management within the teams, it would be best if you were sure that your IT teams and users would use the solution.
The reality can be complicated. So, let’s end with a piece of positive news – it doesn’t have to be either/or. For a company, both of these should come together to create a holistic solution. Since both of these terms are not mutually exclusive, they will cater to fulfill different aspects of the application strategy.
