Why Microsoft should buy Docker right now

Things didn’t work out so well for Microsoft with the Nokia purchase, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some smart acquisitions to be made–like Docker. Nokia was the wrong company in the wrong market at the wrong time. Docker is a market leader in a nascent and quickly rising market.

I wrote about some reasons it makes sense for Microsoft to buy Docker:

Microsoft is no Apple, but it does have nearly $100 billion in cash lying around. There have been rumors that Docker could be available at the right price, and Microsoft has both the cash to afford the right price and the incentive to want to own Docker. A deal like that would have pros and cons, but let’s take a look at three reasons a Docker acquisition makes sense…at least for Microsoft.

1. Containers are hot

The rise of DevOps and the meteoric ascent of Docker itself are driving a self-feeding circle that makes container technologies one of the hottest concepts in tech right now. Microsoft is partnering directly with Docker to build seamless integration and support for Docker containers into Windows Server and its Azure cloud service, as well as developing its own container technologies like Hyper-V Containers.

Docker didn’t invent the container concept, but it has driven its rise from obscurity to mainstream adoption. We’re still in the early stages of maturing the container ecosystem so there will be plenty of opportunities to evolve containers themselves as well as for building the tools and services organizations need to develop, deploy, and manage a container ecosystem.

2. Get ahead of (or own) the curve

Docker has been red hot, but it’s not the only container game in town. Although everyone held hands and had a “kumbaya moment” at DockerCon with the launch of the Open Container Project, many of the companies involved also have their own proprietary stake in the ground. Google, for example, is an Open Container Project supporter but also develops its own container cluster manager software, Kubernetes. Companies from Rackspace to VMware to IBM and just about everyone in between are scrambling to get on the Docker wave while also looking at the broader container ecosystem.

At this point, though, Docker is synonymous with containers and owning Docker would put Microsoft in the control position in that battle for supremacy.

Read the full list of reasons at DevOps.com: 3 reasons Microsoft should just buy Docker.