(MENAFN- B2Press) Saarbrücken, Germany - One year after its official launch, Klutch, the open-source project developed in Germany, has matured into a key control plane framework helping developers and platform teams manage databases and data services consistently across Kubernetes, virtual machines, and cloud environments.

Developed and sponsored by anynines GmbH, a German company with deep roots in platform automation, Klutch reflects anynines' ongoing mission to simplify and modernize data service operations for complex, multi-cloud infrastructures.

Klutch addresses the enterprise challenge of unifying data service operations across hybrid environments. The project introduces consistency, portability, and developer self-service to data service lifecycle management, offering a unified abstraction layer across diverse automation backends, from Kubernetes operators and VM-based services to hyperscale offerings like AWS RDS.

Born from the Needs of German Enterprises

For more than a decade, anynines has worked with German enterprises and public organizations modernizing their internal developer platforms (IDPs). Many had relied on Cloud Foundry and VM-based automation but faced challenges extending proven operational models into containerized and cloud-native environments.

This experience led to Klutch, a control plane designed to bridge the gap between legacy automation and Kubernetes, enabling unified provisioning, backup, and restores and more for databases and other data services like caching, logging, and messaging.

“Enterprises needed a consistent way to operate databases across VMs, Kubernetes, and cloud services,” said Julian Fischer, CEO of anynines GmbH.“Klutch became that bridge; an open-source solution that preserves existing investments while embracing modern infrastructure patterns.”

Highlights from Klutch's First Year

Since its open-source debut, Klutch has progressed from concept to adoption, expanding its feature set and compatibility:

Flexible integrations: Beyond its initial Crossplane integration, Klutch now supports backend-agnostic Go controllers and other automation backends. It's also compatible with Rancher Desktop.

Backup and restore built-in: Developer self-service now includes native backup, recovery, and restore functions for database instances.

Network Connector framework: Provides modular app-to-database connectivity across clusters and environments, including VM-based and cloud-hosted data services.

Multi-cluster awareness: Supports scalable replication of service instances between multiple application clusters and a central control plane.

“Klutch was more than a tool; it was a hypothesis,” said Utobong Frankson, Product Owner for Klutch.“What if Kubernetes didn't have to inherit the pain of fragmented database automation? A year later, we're seeing that vision take shape.”

From Saarbrücken to the Cloud-Native World

Founded in 2008 as Avarteq GmbH in Saarbrücken, anynines began as a Ruby on Rails development and hosting company. In 2013, it launched Europe's first public Cloud Foundry-based PaaS, shifting focus to cloud platform automation and the creation of a9s Data Services, a portfolio of automated, enterprise-grade databases for VM environments.

Over the following decade, anynines became a trusted partner for organizations modernizing developer platforms across on-premises, hybrid, and public cloud landscapes. With the launch of a8s PostgreSQL in 2023, a fully Kubernetes-native data service, and Klutch in 2024, anynines extended its automation expertise from virtual machines into the cloud-native era.

“Klutch reflects the natural evolution of our work,” Fischer added.“Our customers wanted to bring proven automation into Kubernetes without starting over, and Klutch makes that possible.”

Klutch remains a true open-source project, inviting the cloud-native community to contribute, influence its roadmap, and unify database operations across diverse infrastructure environments. Visit klutch to explore the project, documentation, and GitHub repository, or visit anynines/products/klutch for commercial features.

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