Quo Vadis, Cloud Native – Entering the Second Decade
Simon Schrottner and Mario Fahlandt take you on a journey through the success story of Kubernetes and the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) – from its beginnings to becoming the global standard for modern IT infrastructures. You’ll learn how an entire open-source ecosystem came into being, what role the community plays in this, and how a new era of collaboration is emerging with the Technical Advisory Groups (TAGs). And then we’ll look ahead: What role will artificial intelligence play in the next phase of Cloud Native? A keynote for everyone who wants to understand where we stand, how we got here, and where the journey is headed.
Wednesday, May 20 | 11 am | Room Captain Hook
A Cloud Journey at ROSSMANN - From Experiments to Excellence
How can a legacy IT landscape be transformed into a modern, scalable cloud platform? In their keynote, Stefan Kroll and Michael Köster will provide exclusive insights into ROSSMANN’s cloud journey – from initial experiments to a stable hybrid cloud architecture.
The focus is on the transition from distributed on-premises and hyperscaler setups to a standardized platform based on OpenShift. They will demonstrate how topics such as Kubernetes standardization, GitOps, automation, as well as governance and security were successfully implemented. In addition to concrete real-world experiences, they will also look to the future: from OpenShift virtualization to AI readiness.
Michael Köster brings many years of experience in operating complex infrastructures and is known for stable, scalable platforms. Stefan Kroll complements this with his expertise in hybrid cloud strategies and modern platform architecture – with a clear focus on collaboration as the key to successful transformation.
Thursday, Mai 12 | 3 pm | Room Captain Hook
We connect interested parties, users, and end customers from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, offering them a platform featuring international experts in cloud-native software engineering, architecture, AI & ML, DevOps, public cloud, and more.
In doing so, we deliberately focus on unconventional formats that not only convey the growing knowledge on the broad topic of cloud-native technology but also encourage participation from festival attendees.
How to convince your boss – Why CloudLand is worth it
You want to go to CloudLand, but your boss isn’t convinced yet? Here are the best arguments
- 50% talks, 50% hands-on coding
CloudLand isn't a traditional conference, it's a festival for makers. Half of the sessions are practical, hands-on workshops where you work directly with code and try out tools. This way, you'll take home knowledge that can be applied immediately in your day-to-day projects. - Expertise & practical value
At CloudLand, you'll meet leading experts. The sessions deliver not just theory, but directly applicable best practices. - Experience innovation up close
Cloud technologies are evolving rapidly. Here, you'll experience current trends, tools, and architectures that could become standard tomorrow. Your company benefits from your head start. - Networking & exchange
Nowhere else will you meet so many like-minded people from IT, DevOps, and business in one place. These connections are often just as valuable as the content of the sessions. - Motivation & team spirit
CloudLand is more than a conference, it's a festival. The special atmosphere ensures that you'll return inspired and bring new energy to your team. - An investment that pays off
A ticket to CloudLand is more affordable than many individual training courses and combines knowledge transfer, professional development, and networking all in one.
In short: whoever sends you to CloudLand is investing in knowledge, practical skills, and future-readiness.
"What makes this event so valuable to me is the combination of technical depth and community. The sessions are practical—no marketing hype, just real-world accounts from people facing the same challenges. And the most interesting conversations often happen between talks, at the bar or in line for the roller coaster."
>>> Björn Raupach
"AI is going to replace my job! – That’s something software engineers hear a lot these days. Sure, AI is transforming the industry. That’s exactly why dialogue is more important than ever: What are you using? Where are the opportunities and risks? Conversations remain irreplaceable. See you at CloudLand 2026 in Soltau – come talk to me!"
>>> Andreas Fischer
"The Cloud Native Festival combines technological depth with a genuine community spirit—and it delivers practical know-how for everyday cloud-native work. That makes it, year after year, an ideal combination of a source of inspiration and a networking platform that you shouldn’t miss."
>>> Matthias Parbel
"I recommend DOAG’s CloudLand because it combines honest dialogue, practical relevance, and a genuine community. No marketing—just learning on equal footing and valuable insights that stick."
>>> Philipp Berg
The Topics of CloudLand
Cloud-native Software Engineering
Cloud-native software engineering is a methodology for building and running scalable applications that is specifically designed to leverage the flexibility of the cloud, distributed systems, and managed services, using tools such as containers, Kubernetes, and CI/CD pipelines. At CloudLand, we take a close look at this focus area.
Architecture
Cloud Native itself is an architectural approach consisting of microservices, containers, CI/CD, and DevOps. Nevertheless, it is important to take a deeper look at the architecture: What are the key patterns in a microservice architecture? How do we deal with batches, for example, when transforming to cloud native? What is behind hexagonal architecture? What does the future hold? What do I need to consider when incorporating serverless and/or reactive paradigms into my architecture? What does the future hold?
AI & ML
Immerse yourself in the world of artificial intelligence and machine learning—technologies that transform data into decisions and machines into learning problem solvers. The combination of AI and machine learning with cloud technologies enables companies to develop, deploy, and scale powerful solutions quickly and cost-effectively. We will be exploring this extremely interesting topic at CloudLand.
Data & BI
The cloud makes data management and business intelligence more powerful, accessible, and future-proof for companies of all sizes and industries. Data and reports are accessible from anywhere, which increases the efficiency of international teams. With instantly available data and analytics, companies get accurate answers in no time. We give you space for this topic.
DevOps
The great wall between development, testing, and operations—in many places, it has already been successfully torn down. But often it proves to be very stable. How can DevOps culture be successfully established in a company? What measures are appropriate for breaking down not only the organizational walls between teams, but also those in people's minds? Which methods best support the ideas behind DevOps, such as greater agility, short feedback cycles, or more personal responsibility? And what about SRE (Site Reliability Engineering)?
Public Cloud
The best-known and largest public cloud providers are clearly AWS, GCP, and Azure. They have established themselves in recent years and offer reliable services. We take a closer look at them and show which services are useful for whom. Nowadays, they offer much more than just an operating system instance (Infrastructure-as-a-Service). We will try to find out how the providers differ and how vendor lock-in can be avoided as far as possible.
Security & Compliance
Security and compliance in a cloud-native environment are crucial for protecting data and applications from threats and meeting regulatory requirements. Integrated security solutions, such as automated policies and zero-trust architectures, embed protection into development and operational processes. Cloud-native approaches not only enable maximum agility, but also proactive protection in a dynamic IT landscape.
Organization & Culture
A cloud-native organization relies on agile structures and a collaborative corporate culture to drive innovation faster. DevOps principles, interdisciplinary teams, and a “fail fast” approach promote continuous learning and efficient implementation of new ideas. This creates a way of working that harmoniously combines technology, people, and processes to successfully shape digital transformation.
Sovereign Cloud
The sovereign cloud combines the agility of cloud-native technologies with strict data protection and compliance requirements. It offers companies the opportunity to store and process sensitive data securely and in compliance with the law in regional data centers. With a sovereign cloud, you can combine state-of-the-art innovations with maximum control and transparency over your data.
Platform Engineering
Platform engineering refers to the creation of internal developer platforms that combine self-service, automation, and security. Clearly defined golden paths create efficient workflows that significantly accelerate development and operations. This improves the developer experience while strengthening governance, compliance, and transparency.
Customer Stories
In this section, you will learn how companies are overcoming challenges and developing innovative solutions using modern cloud technologies. Companies provide exclusive insights into real-world projects, from scaling global applications to introducing AI-powered services, and inspire with tangible results. See for yourself how cloud-native approaches create competitive advantages and drive digital transformation with these success stories.
Open Source
Open source forms the basis of many modern cloud and platform technologies. Communities drive innovation, from Kubernetes to Backstage to observability tools. The focus is on using open source software responsibly, shaping governance, and harnessing the added value of collaboratively developed solutions in a business context.
