Docker & Podman

Docker revolutionised how applications are built, shipped, and run. Alchemilla Ventures provides comprehensive containerisation services across both Docker and Podman — from strategy to implementation — helping businesses modernise their application delivery pipelines. Whether you prefer Docker’s mature tooling or Podman’s daemonless, rootless, and more secure-by-default architecture, we build to OCI standards so your images and workflows stay portable between the two.

The Container Advantage

Docker containers package applications with all their dependencies, ensuring consistent behaviour from a developer’s laptop to a production cluster in Mumbai. This eliminates “it works on my machine” problems and dramatically accelerates the software delivery lifecycle. For enterprises managing complex application portfolios, containerisation is the first step toward cloud-native maturity.

Our Containerisation Services

• Containerisation Strategy & Assessment: We evaluate your application portfolio and create a containerisation roadmap. Not all applications benefit equally from containers — we identify quick wins (stateless web apps, microservices) and plan incremental migration for monoliths, prioritising ROI for your operations.

• Docker Image Engineering: Build secure, minimal, and optimised Docker images using multi-stage builds, distroless base images, and layer caching strategies. We reduce image sizes by 60–80%, improving CI/CD velocity and reducing registry storage costs for clients.

• Docker Compose for Local Development: Standardise development environments with Docker Compose. Your developers get identical environments — same databases, message queues, and dependencies — eliminating environment drift and reducing onboarding time for new team members.

• CI/CD Integration: Integrate Docker into your CI/CD pipelines. Automated image builds on every commit, vulnerability scanning with Trivy or Snyk, and promotion through development → staging → production registries with signed attestations.

• Docker Swarm to Kubernetes Migration: For teams who started with Docker Swarm and are outgrowing it, we provide structured migration paths to Kubernetes (EKS, AKS, GKE) with minimal disruption to your running services.

• Podman & Rootless Containers: Migrate from the Docker daemon to Podman’s daemonless, rootless model for a reduced attack surface and easier compliance. We set up Podman with podman-compose and systemd-managed Quadlet units, and configure Docker-compatible aliases so your existing workflows keep working.

• Registry Management: Set up and manage private Docker registries — Docker Hub organisations, AWS ECR, Azure Container Registry, Google Artifact Registry, or self-hosted Harbor for air-gapped environments.

Best Practices We Implement

Practice	Benefit
Multi-stage builds	Smaller images, fewer CVEs, faster pulls
Non-root users	Reduced attack surface, CIS compliance
Health checks	Faster failure detection, improved orchestration
Dockerignore	Smaller build context, faster builds
Layer caching	Dramatically faster CI builds
SBOM generation	Supply chain transparency, compliance
Image signing	Cosign-based signing for tamper-proof pipelines

Docker in the the countryn Enterprise

• Legacy Application Modernisation: Containerise decades-old Java and.NET applications serving banks and government agencies. We containerise without rewriting, minimising risk while gaining deployment agility.
• ISV Enablement: Help Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) ship their applications as Docker images, simplifying customer deployments across on-premise and cloud environments.
• Cost Reduction: Consolidate VMs by running multiple containerised applications on fewer hosts, reducing infrastructure costs by 40–60% for the countryn SMBs.
• Skill Development: Hands-on Docker workshops and training for your development teams, building internal container expertise.

Our Container Ecosystem

• Container Runtimes: Docker Engine, Podman, containerd, CRI-O
• Image Registries: Docker Hub, AWS ECR, GCR, ACR, Harbor, JFrog Artifactory
• Orchestration: Docker Compose, Docker Swarm, Kubernetes, AWS ECS
• CI/CD: GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, Azure DevOps
• Security Scanning: Trivy, Snyk, Aqua, Sysdig
• Build Optimisation: BuildKit, Buildx, Kaniko, Dagger

Ready to containerise your applications? Our Docker specialists can help you build a secure, efficient container strategy. Contact us for a container readiness assessment.