The article discusses the decision of a DevOps team to move away from Kubernetes in search of simplicity and happiness in managing their cloud infrastructure.
Initially, embracing Kubernetes was seen as joining the elite club of DevOps but soon turned into a burden requiring more effort in debugging and management.
The team realized that for their needs, stability, simplicity, and ease of operation were more critical than the extensive capabilities offered by Kubernetes.
Issues like misconfigurations, network problems, and downtime caused by small errors in YAML files led to the team's decision to break away from Kubernetes.
After switching away from Kubernetes, the team focused on essential infrastructure needs like fast deploys, simple rollbacks, and high availability.
They explored alternatives such as ECS, Fly.io, and reverted to using Docker with CI/CD for their deployments, opting for clarity over complexity.
Moving away from Kubernetes not only simplified their infrastructure but also transformed their engineering culture, reducing burnout and improving productivity.
The team experienced benefits like decreased incidents, faster onboarding for new developers, cleaner codebase, and a stronger focus on product development.
The shift towards simplicity and practicality in decision-making resulted in shorter meetings, fewer blockers for developers, and increased shipping frequency.
The article emphasizes that while Kubernetes has its strengths for large-scale, complex infrastructures, simplicity often leads to more efficient operations for teams at different stages.
Choosing simplicity over complexity brought the team confidence in deployments, clarity in architecture, and overall improved peace of mind in managing their infrastructure.