Research buyers can use

I wanted Kubernetes buyers to compare their challenges with peers and assess their own maturity. I conceived and commissioned Red Hat's 2026 fleet management study, won funding, and wrote the survey questions.

Organization

Red Hat

My contribution

Research concept, funding advocacy, commissioning, and question design

Spot a need buyers share

Analyst reports pointed to growing Kubernetes cluster counts. I also knew that many organizations ran hybrid environments.

I saw a reason to study how teams managed those fleets. Buyers could compare their practices with peers. Field marketers would have a resource to send prospects.

The marketing aim was to connect fleet-management challenges with Red Hat's relevance. I wanted prospects to understand the management problems that Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes addresses.

Win support for the work

Management had two or three other surveys ahead of mine. I used analyst evidence to explain why fleet-management challenges mattered to our business.

I kept attending budget meetings and making the case. After a year of advocacy, I secured funding and management support.

Ask about consequences

I wrote questions about management practices and their security and compliance risks.

One question asked how often configuration, policy, or management issues had caused problems during the previous 12 months. Examples included excessive permissions, exposed data, delays meeting security requirements, and emergency changes caused by configuration drift.

I wanted buyers to see how management practices could translate into business exposure.

That choice shaped the questions: configuration drift, governance gaps, and manual processes needed to connect to consequences buyers recognized.

76%

of surveyed organizations reported configuration drift at least occasionally.

Share the findings

The published report gives buyers a basis for comparing their practices with peers. I also published an analysis for people managing Kubernetes fleets.