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    Managed Cloud Kubernetes Ledger 2026
    Ledger
    Managed Cloud Kubernetes Ledger 2026

    OVHcloud Managed Kubernetes Service: Cloud Kubernetes Ledger

    OVHcloud is building a paid Standard plan with 3-AZ control planes, Cilium and an SLA next to the free plan.

    Edition October 13, 20266 min read
    Open the interactive LedgerMethodology

    Part of the Managed Cloud Kubernetes Ledger (edition 2026-10-13). How the scores work: methodology.

    1. Snapshot

    • Tier: European cloud
    • Owner: OVH Groupe SA, listed on Euronext Paris since 2021-10; Klaba family holds 79 percent
    • Licence model: Pay as you go; Free plan at no charge, Standard plan $0.099 per cluster per hour, nodes at Public Cloud prices
    • Products scored: MKS Free plan (1-AZ) and Standard plan (1-AZ and 3-AZ)
    • Latest release: Kubernetes 1.35 on 2026-04-09; 1.36 promised for September 2026, not out on 2026-10-02
    • Next signal: Kubernetes 1.36 with Ubuntu 26.04 node image, stated for October 2026
    • Archetype: European cloud, two plans
    • Evidence grade: B. The public roadmap, docs and status feed were opened and carry dated answers; price and SLA wording come from the product page read through a fetch tool.

    2. Scorecard

    DimensionScoreDirection
    Capability today54.8 / 100higher is better
    Momentum since end of 2022+18.2 pointshigher is better
    Credibility16.0 / 25higher is better
    Commercial risk8.0 / 25lower is better
    Technical lock-in6.5 / 25lower is better
    Integrator fit10.5 / 20higher is better
    AI leverage5.0 / 20higher is better
    Ledger Index58.5 / 100balanced weights

    3. Capability by domain

    Scores 0 to 5 against fixed anchors; total is weighted to 100.

    Domain (weight)201620192022Today
    Versions, upgrades and support (12)n/a223
    Nodes, autoscaling and compute choice (12)n/a22.53
    Networking (10)n/a22.53
    Storage and data protection (8)n/a223
    Security and compliance (12)n/a1.52.53
    Observability and day-2 operations (8)n/a122
    Multi-cluster, hybrid and fleet (10)n/a112
    Developer and app platform (8)n/a11.52
    GPU and AI workloads (10)n/a002.5
    Regions, sovereignty and SLA (10)n/a1.523.5
    Total / 100not released28.636.654.8

    Year by year: 2019: 28.6 · 2020: 28.6 · 2021: 35.6 · 2022: 36.6 · 2023: 41.8 · 2024: 45.6 · 2025: 52.0 · 2026: 54.8

    What moved the score

    YearDomainChangePointsTrigger
    2021Developer and app platform1 → 1.5+0.8Terraform resources 2021-03-03
    2021Nodes, autoscaling and compute choice2 → 2.5+1.2Node pool autoscaling 2021-07-27
    2021Observability and day-2 operations1 → 2+1.6Audit logs; Prometheus and Grafana only as tutorials
    2021Regions, sovereignty and SLA1.5 → 2+1.0ISO 27001 scope names MKS (2021-04-27)
    2021Security and compliance1.5 → 2.5+2.4Audit logs 2021-04-12 and OIDC 2021-12-21
    2022Networking2 → 2.5+1.0vRack private networks
    2023GPU and AI workloads0 → 2+4.0A100 flavor in GRA11 2023-10-30
    2023Versions, upgrades and support2 → 2.5+1.2Version notices 2023-06-27; five minors offered; lag about 80 days
    2024GPU and AI workloads2 → 2.5+1.0A10 flavors 2024-11-15; GPUs only in Gravelines 1-AZ; no DRA or sharing
    2024Multi-cluster, hybrid and fleet1 → 2+2.0Managed Rancher Service creates MKS clusters 2024-11-22
    2024Storage and data protection2 → 2.5+0.8High-speed gen2 block storage 2024-08-12
    2025Networking2.5 → 3+1.0Cilium on Standard GA 2025-09-17, Octavia load balancers; no IPv6 or Gateway API class
    2025Nodes, autoscaling and compute choice2.5 → 3+1.2Standard plan to 500 nodes; gen3 flavors; floating IPs; no spot, Arm or serverless nodes
    2025Regions, sovereignty and SLA2 → 3.5+3.0Standard SLA 99.9% and 99.99% on 3-AZ, 17 region codes, French operator; no SecNumCloud for MKS
    2025Versions, upgrades and support2.5 → 3+1.2Rolling node upgrades on Standard from 2025-09-17; policy lists supported minors; no rollback or extended support
    2026Developer and app platform1.5 → 2+0.8Harbor registry product; no managed GitOps add-on
    2026Security and compliance2.5 → 3+1.2AuthenticationConfiguration 2025-10, LUKS 2026-01, ISO 27001 table; no policy engine or runtime protection managed
    2026Storage and data protection2.5 → 3+0.8LUKS volumes 2026-01-30, multi-attach and snapshots; backup only through third parties

    4. Direction, 2023 to 2026

    Each item carries one theme and one driver (V vision, C customer need, M market window, U upstream, P portfolio).

    DateItemThemeDriver
    2023-10A100 GPU flavor on MKSD13 AcceleratorsM
    2024-08High-speed gen2 block storageD5 Storage and data protectionC
    2024-11Rancher creates MKS clustersD3 Fleet and hybridP
    2025-05MKS Standard beta with CiliumD10 Sovereignty and regionsV
    2025-09MKS Standard GA with 3-AZ SLAD10 Sovereignty and regionsV
    2025-10AuthenticationConfiguration (1.34)D9 SecurityU
    2026-01LUKS encrypted volumesD9 SecurityC
    2026-02OVHcloud MCP server (Labs)D7 AI-assisted operationsM
    2026-04Kubernetes 1.35D1 Versions and lifecycleU
    2026-09Cilium customization on StandardD4 NetworkingC
    • Centre of gravity: Sovereignty and regions (2), Security (2), Accelerators (1)
    • Driver mix: Vision 20%, Customer need 30%, Market window 20%, Upstream 20%, Portfolio 10%

    5. Credibility: 16.0 / 25

    CriterionScoreBasis
    Cadence3Version issues on the roadmap; 1.36 missed its September 2026 promise
    Roadmap transparency4.5Public GitHub roadmap with answered issues and stated timings
    Say-do2.54 of 9 resolved promises delivered within 12 months; Karpenter and Free-plan Cilium missed
    Velocity3Standard plan, Cilium, LUKS and custom CIDR in 2025 and 2026, but versions arrive slowly
    Lifecycle stability3Five minors offered, no extended support, third-oldest minor force-upgraded after 30 days

    Say-do record, 2023 to 2026: 11 promises with timing from 2023 to 2026: 3 on time, 2 late, 4 missed or declined, 2 pending; the 1.36 promise for September 2026 was missed.

    6. Commercial risk: 8.0 / 25 (lower is better)

    CriterionScoreBasis
    Price and licence volatility2Paid Standard tier added 2025-09-17 and Cilium kept to it; Free plan unchanged
    Purchase constraints1Self-service pay as you go; Free plan
    Channel and access0.5Public docs, pricing and roadmap; 17 region codes
    Owner stability2Listed, family controlled; FY25 net income EUR 0.4 million and net debt EUR 1.1 billion
    Cost of staying supported2.5Support follows upstream; no extended support; forced upgrade of the third-oldest minor

    Security record of the product itself: none counted: a 2023 exposure of node-exporter metrics on managed load balancers (reported 2023-01-13, fixed by 2023-04-06) was not a cross-tenant flaw; a critical Cilium advisory was still unpatched on Standard on 2026-09-29 per a customer report.

    7. Technical lock-in: 6.5 / 25 (lower is better)

    CriterionScoreBasis
    Formats0.5CNCF-certified Kubernetes; standard APIs
    Export path1Free outbound traffic except Singapore and Sydney; migration and Velero guides
    Stack coupling1.5Octavia load balancers, Cinder volumes and vRack
    Hardware / cloud coupling3OVHcloud Public Cloud only; no hybrid extension found
    Skills and tooling coupling0.5kubectl, Terraform, Pulumi

    8. Integrator fit: 10.5 / 20

    CriterionScoreBasis
    Partner programme openness2Terraform partner-tier provider; partner programme not verified
    Multi-tenancy and self-service2.5Public Cloud projects; Rancher Managed Service; no fleet isolation
    API and infrastructure-as-code4Terraform provider 39 million downloads, Pulumi, CDKTF, CLI and API
    Skills and certification2Documentation and tutorials; no Kubernetes certification path found

    9. AI leverage: 5.0 / 20

    StrandTodayLatest step
    AI workload support1.52023: A100 and A10 GPU flavors; guides for GPU apps and monitoring
    AI platform stack0.52023: AI Endpoints and AI Deploy are separate products; no MKS integration found
    AI-assisted operations0.52019: Docs search assistant only
    Agent openness2.52026: Labs MCP server with OAuth2 from 2026-02-27; Kubernetes tools not confirmed

    AI say-do: 1 MCP request delivered as Labs in 107 days, 1 GPU-in-3-AZ request open; no assistant for operators and no AI service wired into MKS.

    10. Reading

    OVHcloud is building a paid Standard plan with 3-AZ control planes, Cilium and an SLA next to the free plan. The record shows a rare public roadmap with direct answers, but several dated promises slipped, Kubernetes 1.36 was late, and the free plan stays on Canal. A buyer gets a French operator, free outbound traffic and a clear roadmap, with slow version delivery and few managed add-ons.

    11. Open questions and evidence caveats

    • Kubernetes 1.36 promised for September 2026 and not available on 2026-10-02; free clusters run kernel 5.15.
    • Standard end-of-support dates per minor are not published.
    • Whether MKS is inside the ISO and HDS scope rests on the label 'Managed Orchestration'; SecNumCloud was not found for MKS.
    • Cilium advisory GHSA-3fcv-jvfp-m4q9 unpatched on Standard on 2026-09-29 per a customer issue.
    • Status feed covers only the last 50 incidents; price read through a fetch tool.

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