Introducing Giant Swarm Platform 3.0 with Cluster API

As we soon celebrate our 10th birthday, we've been reflecting on what's driven us since those early days — a mission to make our customers happy. That founding spirit fuels our excitement for Giant Swarm Platform 3.0.

This release is special because it marries the hard-earned knowledge we've gained from a decade of managing Kubernetes clusters in production with the most effective open source tools out there. It's not just about chasing trends; it's about taking a thoughtful, battle-tested approach to building a platform that truly works for you.

Our decade has been defined by rolling up our sleeves, getting our hands dirty, and deeply understanding the operational challenges our customers face. Giant Swarm Platform 3.0 distills those learnings alongside cutting-edge open source capabilities to empower teams to focus on innovation rather than cluster maintenance and operational burden.

We've iterated and listened closely to ensure you can now rely on a platform purpose-built to simplify your lives and unlock innovation. Giant Swarm Platform 3.0 combines a decade's worth of mastery in making Kubernetes operations "just work" with the boundless potential of open source.

Cluster API: the game-changer in Kubernetes management

At the core of Giant Swarm Platform 3.0 lies our commitment to leveraging the power of Cluster API for seamless Kubernetes cluster management. Cluster API isn't just a tool — it's a perfect match with how we think organizations should manage their Kubernetes infrastructure. Cluster API is the only open standard on how to configure your clusters and the underlying infrastructure.

The Cluster API advantages you'll actually experience:

• Customizable clusters: No more wrestling with unnecessary complexity. With Cluster API, you can effortlessly define and customize clusters using familiar Kubernetes resources. This empowers you to tailor your infrastructure precisely to your organization's unique requirements without the hassle. To make this even easier, we’ve packaged a complete production-ready configuration into a Helm chart, so the cluster comes with sensible defaults, validation, and tested configurations.
• Consistent environments: Say goodbye to vendor lock-in and hello to a unified, streamlined approach to Kubernetes management. Cluster API enables you to provision and manage clusters consistently across multiple cloud providers and on-premises environments. 
• Expanding provider ecosystem: More options for running Kubernetes however and wherever you need. Our Cluster API integration plugs you into its growing ecosystem of cloud providers. It’s much easier for us to support new providers. For example, the newest provider we now support is VMware Cloud Director. 

We actively contribute to Cluster API and collaborate with the broader ecosystem, ensuring that our platform evolves alongside the latest advancements in cloud native technology. With Giant Swarm, you benefit from the collective expertise and innovation of the community, which helps your platform engineering team to provide a platform to your developers faster.

By aligning with the Cluster API community, we now support GitOps for the cluster fleet, all platform components, and your applications. This enables you to have a centralized way of configuring a platform that runs across providers and continents.

A fully managed platform that has your back

Giant Swarm Platform 3.0 isn't just a platform – it's a fully managed service designed to empower your development teams while alleviating operational burdens. And all of it inside your own on-premises data centers and cloud accounts, without sharing any infrastructure with other Giant Swarm customers. With us, you gain access to a suite of invaluable services designed to streamline operations and fuel innovation:

1. Streamlined cluster management: Let us handle the nitty-gritty of automating and managing your Kubernetes clusters. We've seamlessly integrated managed control planes like EKS into our fleet management, ensuring hassle-free cluster deployment and maintenance. This frees up your teams to focus on integrating the platform with your corporate ecosystem and enabling developers.
   
2. We’re an extension of your team with 24/7 monitoring and support: The same engineers who designed and built Giant Swarm Platform 3.0 from the ground up. They're the ones committed to keeping it running smoothly around the clock. No frustrating hand-off to a separate ops team — when you call, you get the folks deeply embedded in the platform itself. Whatever needs attention, they'll take the pager, get up in the middle of the night, and fix it for you directly.
3. Customization options galore: ​​We believe in co-creating solutions that evolve alongside our customers. No two organizations are identical, so we work hand-in-hand to plan your journey, implementing customizations collaboratively with your platform teams. However, you still benefit from a unified, consistently updated platform backed by our expertise. If we identify and fix an issue for one customer, that remedy gets rolled out for everyone else immediately. At the same time, our platform offers extensive integration and customization options. This empowers you with the freedom to fine-tune your environment for your specific needs. 
4. AI that actually helps: Even the most seasoned engineers encounter obstacles on their journey. That's why we've equipped our platform with AI-powered support, acting as your dependable sidekick. From providing instant answers to common queries to assisting in overcoming documentation roadblocks, our AI support system ensures your teams stay productive and efficient at all times.

With Giant Swarm Platform 3.0, you're not just investing in a platform — you're arming your development teams with the superpowers they need to innovate faster, collaborate seamlessly, and deliver truly remarkable results.

A decade of real-world experience at your fingertips

We're not just about ticking boxes, we're all about finding practical solutions that work. With Giant Swarm Platform 3.0, you're not just getting technology; you're getting a partner who cares with years of hands-on experience guiding every step of your Kubernetes journey.

We’re happy to be a part of the Cluster API ecosystem now and are looking forward to blending the power of the community with our real-world production experience. This unique fusion results in a Kubernetes platform that's not just robust but perfectly tailored to your team's needs. So why not see this operational mastery in action? Request a demo of Giant Swarm Platform 3.0 today and let's embark on this exciting journey together.