For those who came in late, Kubernetes is a mega popular open source cloud technology built by… er, Google, that started out as a way for Google to manage its massive server infrastructure and has since become a go to tool for modern software developers.

Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure offer some kind of support for Kubernetes, Google Cloud prides itself on being the first and best place to use the software, given that it was invented there.

However, now Vole has come up with Azure Container Service. It is a sign that Azure can beat Google Cloud at its own Kubernetes game. Azure Container Service makes it easier for customers to run Kubernetes at large scales, with boosted management and maintenance tools.

Writing in its blog, Microsoft said that Kubernetes had emerged as the open source standard for container "orchestration" with startups and big tech companies alike flocking to support it.

While Google might be happy that Kubernetes has become the standard in this field, it suddenly has Amazon and Microsoft using its own killer app against it.

Now Google has to work out how to make the tech it invented gives it an edge in the cloud wars while its software expert rivals (Microsoft) and aggressive marketers (Amazon) clean its clock.