// state there is a corresponding handler function.
// TargetProvider should be stateless, given the state of cluster and existing participants
// it should return the same result
final TargetProviderResponse response =
targetProvider.evaluateExistingContainers(cluster, resourceId, participants);
// allocate new containers
for (final ContainerSpec spec : response.getContainersToAcquire()) {
final ParticipantId participantId = spec.getParticipantId();
if (!cluster.getParticipantMap().containsKey(participantId)) {