February 2026 Summaries

Air-gapped deployments, which require software to operate in environments without internet access and with strict controls, present a strategic rather than purely technical challenge for software vendors. While initially, building an in-house solution for air-gapped deployments might seem feasible for teams accustomed to creating container images and maintaining Helm charts, the complexity and operational burden increase significantly over time as customer requirements and environments diversify. Opting to buy a dedicated air-gap distribution solution can provide consistent installation experiences, scalable support, and allow engineering teams to focus on core product development rather than maintaining complicated packaging pipelines. As air-gapped environments become a significant revenue stream, purchasing a purpose-built system becomes a pragmatic choice, enabling companies to meet deployment requirements, enhance customer experience, and scale efficiently without turning distribution into a competing product focus.

In February 2026, Replicated released several updates to its SDK, Vendor Portal, and documentation. The SDK, now at version 1.13.0, supports high-availability setups to enhance resilience, particularly for applications relying on its API. The Vendor Portal's Security Center has been enhanced to display the Grype version used in image scans and provide full JSON outputs for vulnerable images, while offering improved user experience and clearer data availability indicators. Event Notifications, in its Alpha phase, now supports more specific notifications and respects RBAC permissions, allowing non-Admin users to manage notifications, with various UX improvements for better navigation and filtering. Documentation updates include a new Helm CLI-only onboarding workflow, detailed processes for generating CVE reports and SBOMs through the SecureBuild service, and clearer explanations of HelmChart custom resources for security scanning. These enhancements aim to improve user experience, security visibility, and operational efficiency for vendors and their customers.