Tools for Enterprise Computing Operations
Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes Last updated on 25th August 2025
Between reading Admin magazine and encountering the output of the Techstrong Group, I have come to realise that there is a burgeoning market for tools that manage computing operations at the enterprise level. Some of these are open-source offerings, and I try to list the ones that I have met so far in this collation. There are many more out there in this age of added complexity and an ever more hostile networked computing landscape.
This open-source testing framework enables software teams to implement Behaviour-Driven Development by allowing tests to be written in natural, human-readable language that connects business stakeholders with developers. The framework uses the Gherkin syntax with keywords such as Given, When and Then to structure test scenarios in plain English, making them accessible to both technical and non-technical team members. It integrates with multiple programming languages including Java, JavaScript, Ruby and Python, where natural language steps are mapped to underlying code through step definitions.
Teams can incorporate it into continuous integration and deployment pipelines for automated acceptance and regression testing, whilst the scenarios themselves function as living documentation that stays current with system behaviour. The typical workflow involves business analysts creating feature files in Gherkin format describing user interactions, developers linking these steps to automation code, and the framework executing these scenarios as automated tests that verify applications meet their specified business requirements.
This open-source end-to-end testing framework enables developers and QA engineers to write, run and debug tests directly in the browser for modern web applications. Unlike Selenium, it operates within the same run loop as the application being tested, providing native access to DOM elements, network requests and browser behaviour. The framework automatically reruns tests when code changes occur, offers detailed logs and snapshots for debugging, and includes time-travel debugging capabilities to examine application state at each test step.
Built in JavaScript, it integrates seamlessly with modern front-end frameworks such as React, Angular and Vue, whilst supporting cross-browser testing in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Electron. The tool works effectively with CI/CD pipelines through integration with Jenkins, GitHub Actions and other continuous integration tools, allowing developers to simulate user actions and monitor DOM changes and network traffic in real browsers to catch regressions before deployment.
It feels as if a lot is becoming containerised these days, and Docker is one facilitator of all of this. Even my own activities do not escape using it because of Pi-hole and SAS. Given that it enables the packaging, distribution and deployment of applications by providing a containerisation platform for consistent behaviour across different environments and efficient resource utilization, that perhaps is not so surprising, especially when there is reduced overhead compared to virtual machines.
After all, Docker containers are a lightweight, portable and efficient solution for running applications in isolated environments. Based on the Linux kernel, they package code, runtime, libraries and settings into standalone units that can be executed consistently across different computing environments. With a size of only tens of MB's, they are more lightweight than VMs. Using namespaces and control groups, Docker ensures efficient resource management and limits for containers. A Dockerfile is used to build an image, which serves as a template for creating runtime instances called containers.
Grafana is a platform that provides solutions for observability, including log aggregation (Loki), visualization and alerting. It offers multiple products like Grafana Cloud Logs, Traces, Metrics and Profiles, powered by various backend systems such as Grafana Loki, Tempo, Mimir and Pyroscope. The platform also provides AI/ML capabilities for anomaly detection and root cause analysis through its Asserts product. Additionally, it offers a range of pricing options, including a free plan with limited features. Users can access documentation, webinars, tutorials and workshops to get started. Grafana supports various data sources including Kubernetes, Prometheus, OpenTelemetry, Graphite, GitHub and more. It provides collaboration features for teams to share insights and manage alerts centrally. The platform is available in multiple languages, with localized content in Japanese, German, French, Spanish and Portuguese.
An open-source package manager designed for Kubernetes, this tool functions similarly to traditional package managers like apt or yum but specifically for container orchestration environments. It simplifies application deployment by bundling Kubernetes manifests into reusable units called charts, which contain all the necessary files describing resources such as deployments, services and configurations. When a chart is installed, it becomes a release within the cluster, allowing comprehensive lifecycle management including installation, upgrades, rollbacks and removal. The system supports templating through values files, enabling developers to customise deployments without manually editing manifest files, whilst repositories facilitate sharing and reusing application definitions across teams. Release versioning and history tracking provide robust rollback capabilities, allowing teams to revert to previous versions when issues arise. The typical workflow involves developers defining application configurations as charts, installing them into Kubernetes clusters, and managing updates through upgrade commands with the safety net of rollback functionality when deployments encounter problems.
Istio is an open-source service mesh that provides a solution for connecting, securing, managing and monitoring microservices-based distributed applications. It extends Kubernetes to establish a programmable, application-aware network using the powerful Envoy service proxy, bringing standard, universal traffic management, telemetry and security to complex deployments.
An open-source automation server created as Hudson in 2004 and renamed in 2011, Jenkins serves as a cornerstone for continuous integration and continuous delivery practices in software development. The system automates repetitive tasks throughout the development lifecycle, including building, testing and deploying applications, which enables teams to identify issues earlier and maintain higher quality standards. Through its extensive plugin ecosystem of hundreds of integrations, it connects seamlessly with version control systems like Git, build tools such as Maven and Gradle, testing frameworks including JUnit and Selenium and various cloud platforms, all supported by an active open-source community that provides regular updates and comprehensive documentation.
The platform supports Pipeline as Code functionality through Jenkinsfiles, allowing workflows to be defined using either declarative or scripted syntax, whilst distributed builds across multiple machines provide scalability for larger workloads. A typical workflow begins when developers commit code to a repository, automatically triggering builds and running automated tests, with successful builds proceeding to deployment in staging or production environments.
Computing infrastructures that use containers can get unwieldy to manage using other tools. Thus, Google created Kubernetes to better automate the deployment, scaling and management of containerised applications across a cluster of nodes. It adds features like service discovery, load balancing, storage orchestration and declarative configuration management. Because of the pervasiveness of containerisation these days, this is one tool that keeps getting mentioned when discussing their administration.
Nextcloud is a popular open source content collaboration platform used by thousands of organizations, enabling productivity and control through its self-hosted file storage and sync solution. Its Nextcloud Hub product integrates Files, Talk, Groupware and Office into one platform, offering easy access anywhere with powerful access controls. Designed for humans, it's trusted by the public sector, enterprises, service providers and education institutions to minimize operational expenses while improving communication and reducing risk. Nextcloud is committed to providing a secure solution that keeps data on servers owned by the organization, ensuring compliance with business requirements. With over 400,000 deployments, it offers productivity across platforms, extensive data policy enforcement, encryption, user management and auditing capabilities. It's constantly improving through an open-source community development model.
OpenTofu is a forked version of HashiCorp's Terraform, created in response to its licence change from open-source to the Business Source Licence (BSL). It's fully compatible with Terraform v1.6.x and backward compatible with all prior versions, designed as a drop-in replacement using the same syntax and commands but replacing 'terraform' with 'tofu'. OpenTofu is published under the open-source Mozilla Public Licence (MPL) and is now an official Linux Foundation project on track to join the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF). The community-driven project, supported by companies like Gruntwork, Spacelift, Harness, Env0 and Scalr, offers features such as execution planning, state management, a vast ecosystem of providers for various cloud platforms and services, support for modules and reusable components and encrypted state management. OpenTofu aims to maintain feature parity with Terraform while ensuring long-term open-source availability for infrastructure as code solutions.
ownCloud is a secure, scalable file sharing platform designed to boost collaboration for teams of all sizes. Its current version, Infinite Scale, offers state-of-the-art security features and seamless integration with Microsoft Office Online, Collabora Online and OnlyOffice. It's compatible with various devices and comes with a user-friendly web interface that can be extended through custom web apps. ownCloud offers rolling releases with the latest features every three weeks and is supported by a community of contributors.
Podman is a free and open-source container management tool that allows users to manage containers, pods and images without the need for a daemon. It is lightweight, secure and compatible with various platforms, including Kubernetes and Docker. Podman Desktop provides an intuitive user interface, making it easy to create, start, inspect and manage pods. The tool supports various container formats and has gained positive feedback from users due to its speed and ease of use. Podman is also open-source, allowing integration with other tools such as Visual Studio Code, Cirrus CLI, GitHub Actions and Kind's local Kubernetes clusters. The maintainers have applied to contribute Podman, Buildah and Skopeo to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF). Regular updates provide new features, improvements and networking enhancements for a better user experience.
Prometheus is an open-source monitoring solution that enables users to power their metrics and alerting using a dimensional data model. It supports various languages for client libraries and integrates with several third-party systems, such as Docker, HAProxy, StatsD and JMX. Prometheus offers precise alerting based on flexible PromQL queries and provides multiple modes for visualizing data through built-in expression browser, Grafana integration, or console template language. It boasts efficient storage with functional sharding and federation, enabling scalability. The software is simple to operate and each server functions independently while being written in Go for easy deployment. Its components are 100% open source under the Apache 2 Licence on GitHub and has been adopted by numerous organizations, including Mixpanel. It is also a graduated project of Cloud Native Computing Foundation.
This open-source administration tool provides a browser-based interface that enables system administrators to manage Unix-like systems including Linux and BSD without extensive command line usage or manual configuration file editing. The platform simplifies server administration through modules that handle user management, service configuration, package installation, firewall setup and log monitoring for services such as Apache, Nginx, MySQL, PostgreSQL, DNS and email servers. Unlike hosting-focused alternatives such as cPanel or Plesk, this free solution offers system-focused functionality with support for third-party and custom modules, remote management capabilities across multiple servers, SSL support and user-based access controls, though administrators must implement careful security measures due to its elevated privileges.