Docker and Docker Swarm engineering
Containers done properly, and Swarm where Kubernetes would be operational tax with no return.
Containers are the reason a system can move between a cloud and your own hardware without a rewrite. Get the image and the build right and portability is nearly free; get it wrong and you have shipped your development machine's assumptions to production.
Docker Swarm deserves more credit than it gets. For a handful of services on a handful of nodes it provides orchestration, service discovery, rolling updates and secrets with a fraction of Kubernetes' operational surface. On a small on-premise estate operated by a team who have other jobs, that trade is usually correct — and we will recommend it over Kubernetes when it is.
Docker & Swarm, specifically.
Is Docker Swarm still maintained?
Yes, Swarm mode ships with Docker Engine and continues to receive maintenance. It is not where the industry's attention is, which is a fair consideration — but for a small stable estate the simplicity is worth more than the ecosystem you are not using.
Can the same images run on-premise and in a cloud?
That is the point of doing this properly. Keep configuration in the environment, avoid a provider's proprietary managed services on the critical path, and the same image runs in both — which is what makes hybrid or a later move back on-premise ordinary work rather than a rewrite.
Tell us what you are building.
A short conversation is usually enough to tell whether we are the right firm for the problem. If we are not, we will say so and point you somewhere better.