Table of contents
CNCF offers a strong backbone of services to open source projects, built around the goal of sustaining most project needs outside of just code management and technical decisions. We offer an enhanced set of services via professional staff that cultivate the maturity and increased adoption of cloud native, open source projects. We take a data driven approach to working with our project and maintainer community; we actively survey to improve our services and community satisfaction.
These services are offered as part of community stability, but do not replace developers on the projects themselves and are never meant to be in the critical path of a project release or a full time resource. Our goal in providing these shared services is to cultivate CNCF’s graduating and incubating projects, and offer sandbox projects the space to grow into incubating projects.
CNCF hosts graduated, incubating, and sandbox projects. While we offer a shared set of services for all of our projects, we don’t provide substantial marketing services for sandbox projects as they are meant to be early stage projects that need a lightweight neutral home to grow naturally. Sandbox projects are prioritized lower for project services versus their incubating and graduated project peers.
Finally, this list isn’t meant to be an exhaustive list of services offered by the foundation. There may be things your project needs help with that isn’t listed here and it’s completely OK to reach out to staff via the CNCF ServiceDesk and ask for help.
We offer CNCF projects and maintainers the following benefits:
Foundation
A neutral home for an open source project increases the willingness of developers from enterprise software companies, start-ups, and independent developers to collaborate, contribute, and become committers. CNCF’s Technical Oversight Committee is the technical governing body, guided by documented principals, and admits and oversees all projects. Projects accepted into CNCF by the TOC is an independent signal of the quality of your project.
For projects accepted into CNCF, the existing maintainers (or committers) still control the project. We help projects create a well-documented, neutral governance process. Any project that is added to CNCF must have ownership of its trademark and logo assets transferred to the Linux Foundation. For the full list of requirements, see IP Policy.
Design and aesthetics
CNCF offers graphic design resources for all projects, provided primarily by our in-house design team. When new projects enter the foundation, they receive a new logo, website refresh if they wish, or an enhancement of their existing aesthetic. For example, see the CloudEvents or CNCF SIG Security logo. If there is something creative you desire, please don’t hesitate to reach out!
All project logos and color schemes are readily available via the CNCF artwork github.
Program management
CNCF, our parent organization The Linux Foundation, and our sibling projects combined have years of experience in providing program management services for open source projects. We collaborate on best practices which we bring to CNCF hosted projects.
CNCF staff is available to assist and guide your project. Below are some of the activities:
- CNCF will assist with collaborations between maintainers and LF fellows and CNCF sister projects in the LF to support knowledge sharing
- Project governance creation and advice
- Facilitating community meetings with support for online participation
- Administrative support for communication and project processes
- Security audits by independent third parties (e.g., Kubernetes security audit)
- Distributed systems safety research via independent third parties (e.g. https://jepsen.io/)
- Biweekly or monthly check in meetings with CNCF Staff as requested
- Project activity tracking and contribution reporting via https://devstats.cncf.io
Legal services
Legal services keep a project healthy and in compliance with licensing requirements, intellectual property regimes, and industry norms. Specific legal services include:
- A neutral home for project assets and trademarks.
- Registering trademarks for your projects across geographies as needed
- Support and responses to threatened litigation. For example, we worked with the Kubespray maintainers to change their name back from Kargo after receiving a C&D.
- Contributor License Agreement (CLA) system that integrates with GitHub.
- Developer Certificate of Origin (DCO) system that integrates with GitHub.
- Protect trademarks, such as a Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) action to take over kubernetes.cn.
- Assistance with open source licensing review and strategy as needed
- Access to legal staff should any legal questions arise.
Tools
CNCF Projects may freely select their own tools, produce their own documentation, and build their own websites. CNCF staff can support a project’s activities in this area and can provide recommendations and/or access to these tools for your project. We also have special relationships with many vendors that offer enterprise level support.
Tools:
- Zoom video conferencing Pro accounts for video meetings, recordings, and scheduling
- OpsGenie account for on-call rotations for production services, security disclosure lists, or other needs
- LastPass, 1Password and Keybase to manage to shared secrets
- Netlify for website hosting, DNS management, and improved workflow/automation around documentation and websites
- Discourse for community discussion (e.g., https://discuss.kubernetes.io)
- Slack for communication for all projects in the Cloud Native Computing Foundation Slack
- FOSSA for license and security scanning
- Snyk for container image scanning
- HackerOne for bug bounties
- Zapier for task and workflow automation
Technical documentation
CNCF invests thousands of dollars per year to improve project documentation and website development. This includes improving website hosting, project documentation hosting, adding tutorials and how-to guides, and acting on project requests.
Documentation examples:
- Kubernetes (i18n support and case studies)
- Harbor (full redesign)
- gRPC (full redesign and contracted tech writing support)
- Helm (build pipeline overhaul and i18n support)
Continuous integration
In the contemporary software landscape, virtually all major projects require heavy investment in continuous integration (CI) systems, which provide those projects with automated testing, dependency checking, security vetting, and so on.
CNCF covers CI needs for our hosted projects and allows those projects to select their own platforms; many CI systems are currently in use amongst CNCF projects, including Travis CI, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Azure Pipelines, and Prow, the Kubernetes-based (and thus CNCF-sponsored) CI system used for Kubernetes and even some non-CNCF projects.
Some projects are perfectly well served with fairly basic CI setups, whereas projects like Kubernetes and Envoy require significant financial and human resources.
Certification and training services
CNCF, along with the Linux Foundation, has made a major investment in implementing training, expert certification for Kubernetes developers and administrators, and provider certification programs for Kubernetes as well as training for CNCF projects Prometheus and Fluentd. We have also worked with The Linux Foundation training team to develop self-paced online courses that can scale up a project’s reach beyond what’s possible using instructor-led courses. Over time, we expect to expand the training options to cover other projects. Examples of training we’ve already developed include:
- Free Introduction to Kubernetes course on edX MOOC
- Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) exam
- CKAD: Kubernetes for Developers
- Monitoring Systems and Services with Prometheus
End User Community
CNCF’s End User Community includes over 140 top companies and startups that depend on cloud native technologies and are committed to collaborative infrastructure development. The End User Community is an active participant in key technology decisions by CNCF-hosted projects with leadership positions on the TOC and contributions to many CNCF projects.
CNCF end users are telling their stories to help elevate the technical conversations to business objectives and challenges. CNCF projects are featured in these use cases and the impact cloud native projects are having on their business. You can explore case studies by project, such as Prometheus or Envoy.
Internationalization
CNCF has professional staff located in Asia Pacific to assist projects with their activities in that region. We offer internationalization support including:
- Assistance for projects presenting at meetups and events.
- Simultaneous live translations in both Chinese and English for our flagship KubeCon + CloudNativeCon China.
- Translation services for projects that wish to have blog posts translated into other languages; see Falco as an example.
Marketing
Marketing services for projects are designed to assist with the awareness of the project, increase project adoption, and increase contributors. CNCF has marketing resources to support the projects in the following areas:
Event management
Events are central to CNCF’s strategic approach, fostering community growth through direct interactions and knowledge exchange. CNCF offers various participation avenues for projects:
| Event Type | TAGs | Graduated | Incubating | SIGs | Sandbox |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNCF-hosted Co-located Events KubeCon + CloudNativeCon & Open Source Summit Events | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | – | – |
| Stand-Alone Events | – | ✅ | – | – | – |
| Virtual Only Events | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Learn more about eligibility and the parameters for CNCF-Hosted Events here.
KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Project Opportunities
| Project Opportunity Type | TAGs | Graduated | Incubating | SIGs | Sandbox |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In-Person Kiosk (Project Pavilion) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| In-Person Project Meeting | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | – | – |
| PR Support | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | – |
| Maintainer session | – | ✅ | ✅ | – | ✅ |
| Project Video Updates (Keynote Stage Highlight) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | – | – |
Learn more about the guidelines here.
Submit an Event Request: 2024 CNCF Project + Co-located Event Proposal Form.
We provide:
- Full event planning and logistical support.
- Integrated marketing and communication plan, including an event website, communications, and marketing of the event.
- Obtaining sponsors for the event.
- Media introductions.
Additional ways projects and project maintainers can participate in events:
- Submissions for call-for-proposals at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon are encouraged to discuss their use of CNCF projects.
- CNCF sponsors industry and Linux Foundation events each year, often with a booth. We encourage project maintainers to join CNCF in our participation to meet with the event attendees and talk about your project.
- Project contributors are welcome to use our booth as a “home base” for meeting colleagues.
- Connect to our worldwide network of Cloud Native Community Groups and Ambassadors to raise awareness of your project.
- Travel funding is available for your non-corporate-backed developers. Please visit our most recent events’ need-based scholarship page to learn about eligibility.
- At events, we promote all CNCF projects and help connect users and developers to our projects.
Marketing services and programs
CNCF provides a full portfolio of marketing services and programs to support community and ecosystem engagement for CNCF projects. This includes:
CNCF Online Programs: Graduated and incubating projects can participate in Online Programs like webinars, videos, and livestream. They can communicate release launch details or provide a project update. The exception is Kubernetes, which holds a webinar approximately 30 days after a release.
CNCF blog and Kubernetes.io blog: Graduated and incubating projects can submit blog posts. Share technical content and how-to’s, stories about cloud native and project deployments, and use cases and success stories. Blog posts should not be vendor pitches. They must contain content that applies broadly to the Kubernetes and cloud native community. The Kubernetes blog receives over 1.5M visits a week.
Case studies: End user case studies help elevate the technical conversations to business objectives and challenges. This program features use cases and the impact CNCF project and cloud native technologies are having on end users’ businesses. The case studies build narratives around specific metrics that reflect the positive impact as a resource for companies considering adopting cloud native technologies.
Newsletter: The CNCF newsletter is published quarterly. Project updates are a regular feature in the newsletter.
CNCF manages the blog editorial calendar for balanced content shared with the community. We also provide writing, editing, and funding freelancers to develop content.
Project media velocity reports: Monthly, CNCF pulls press mentions and share of voice data for graduated projects including mentions in social media and key messaging.
Marketing communications
The goal of marketing communications is to generate awareness for the project and project milestones, community growth, and developer engagement. The communication activities provided by CNCF include:
- Proactive media and analyst coverage for projects including arranging and assisting with interviews and information sessions.
- Promote project news and milestones through other channels: journalists, analysts, and news releases/blogs.
- Identify top publications/podcasts (Bloomberg, Changelog, eWeek, Fortune, Forbes, InfoWorld, The New Stack, etc.) and develop plans to earn coverage through contributed articles, quotes, interviews, and news pickup.
- Secure analyst briefings for inclusion in reports: Gartner, Forrester, IDC, RedMonk, 451 Research and more.
- Organize media/analyst luncheons,1:1 meetings at key events.
- Develop thought leadership reports, surveys, success stories, and case studies (print and video).
- Actively manage project social media channels (Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Github, Flickr).
Surveys
The CNCF marketing team can help create surveys for your project to help ascertain adoption or other interests. A prominent example is our annual Cloud Native Community Surveys. For smaller, more targeted surveys, we can assist. Submit a request via the CNCF Service Desk.
Marketing announcements for projects
As projects have major or minor releases or move through the maturity levels, CNCF works with the projects on outbound communications. Below are the items we can do with you.
Project entering and moving through the maturity levels
Every project has different needs and staff works with projects based on those needs. Below are the services offered as a project moves through the different graduation levels and the support for graduated and incubating project releases.
Graduation
Projects moving to Graduation level receive:
- Press release announcement.
- Presentation slot at the upcoming KubeCon + CloudNativeCon.
- Embargoed pitch of the release and top features to the media. Requests for interviews go to the project team.
- Tweet on announcement day, including social card.
Incubating
Projects at the Incubation level receive:
- Blog post announcement on cncf.io written by CNCF marketing with assistance from the project team.
- Embargoed pitch of the announcement and top features to the media. Requests for interviews go to the project team.
- Tweet on announcement day, including social card.
Sandbox
Projects coming in as Sandbox receive:
- An announcement to the TOC mailing list on the day they are included into the Sandbox.
- If the media contacts CNCF regarding the news, CNCF will make an introduction directly to the project.
- Correct terminology: “Cloud Native Sandbox” or “CNCF Sandbox projects.”
- CNCF does not provide press outreach, a CNCF or TOC briefing, a blog, or a social card.
- Exception: A member may share a blog about any open source project, including a Sandbox project. See the CNCF blog guidelines.
Project launches and new release support
Graduated projects: major and minor release
- Project webinar, up to a max of two per year.
- Blog post announcement on cncf.io either written by CNCF PR with assistance by the project, re-posting of project’s own blog post, or a blog post written exclusively for cncf.io by the project team.
- Embargoed or day-of pitch of the release and top features to the media as relevant. Requests for interviews go to the project team for interviews.
- Tweet on announcement day.
Incubating projects: major release
- Project webinar, up to a max of two per year.
- Blog post announcement on cncf.io either written by CNCF PR with assistance by the project, re-posting of project’s own blog post, or a blog post written exclusively for cncf.io by the project team.
- Embargoed or day-of pitch of the release and top features to the media as relevant. Requests for interviews go to the project team for interviews.
- Tweet on announcement day.
Other services
This list isn’t a comprehensive list of all services covered. Projects can, and do, request additional services through CNCF Service Desk and we work to get them help they need.
If you’re a CNCF project committer, visit http://servicedesk.cncf.io to request support.
To contribute your project to CNCF or discuss how CNCF can help your project, email info@cncf.io and read the TOC repo.