diff --git a/kfp/doc/simple_transform_pipeline.md b/kfp/doc/simple_transform_pipeline.md
index 527c454d0..dfa623551 100644
--- a/kfp/doc/simple_transform_pipeline.md
+++ b/kfp/doc/simple_transform_pipeline.md
@@ -203,11 +203,12 @@ To compile pipeline execute `make build` command in the same directory where you
 
 ## Preparing cluster for pipeline execution
 
-We support two options for preparing cluster - local KInd cluster and usage of the standard Kubernetes 
-or OpenShift cluster. We recommend using Kind cluster for only for local testing and debugging, 
-not production loads. For production loads use external Kubernetes cluster.
+The project provides instructions and deployment automation to run all components in an all-inclusive fashion on a 
+single machine using a Kind cluster. However, this topology is not suitable for processing medium and large datasets, 
+and deployment should be carried out on a real Kubernetes or OpenShift cluster. Therefore, we recommend using Kind 
+cluster for only for local testing and debugging, not production loads. For production loads use a real Kubernetes cluster.
 
-### Preparing Knd cluster
+### Preparing Kind cluster
 
 You can create a Kind cluster with all required software installed
 using the following command: 
@@ -215,7 +216,6 @@ using the following command:
 ````shell
  make setup
 ````
-**Note** that this command has to run from the project kind subdirectory
 
 We tested Kind cluster installation on multiple platforms, including Intel Mac, 
 AMD Mac (see [this](deployment_on_MacOS.md)), Windows, 
@@ -224,23 +224,47 @@ for additional RHEL configurations) and Ubuntu. Additional platform can be used,
 require additional configuration and testing.
 
 ### Preparing an existing Kubernetes cluster
+Alternatively you can deploy pipeline to the existing Kubernetes cluster. 
 
-Alternatively you can deploy pipeline to the existing Kubernetes cluster. This cluster should have both KubeRay
-and KFP (**Note** We are currently using KFP V1) installed.
+#### Pre-requirements
+Deployment on an existing cluster requires less pre-installed software
+Only the following programs should be manually installed:
 
-To install KubeRay on your cluster first create `kuberay` namespace:
+- [Helm](https://helm.sh/docs/intro/install/) 3.10.0 or greater must be installed and configured on your machine.
+- [Kubectl](https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/tools/#kubectl) 1.26 or newer must be installed on your machine, and be 
+able to connect to the external cluster. For OpenShift clusters OpenShift CLI 
+[oc](https://docs.openshift.com/container-platform/4.15/cli_reference/openshift_cli/getting-started-cli.html) can be used instead.
+- [wget](https://www.gnu.org/software/wget/) 1.21 must be installed on your machine.
 
-```shell
-kubectl create namespace kuberay
-```
+#### Installation steps
+
+In order to execute data transformers on the remote cluster, the following packages should be installed on the Kubernetes cluster:
+
+- [KubeFlow Pipelines](https://www.kubeflow.org/docs/components/pipelines/v1/introduction/) (KFP). Currently, we use 
+upstream Argo-based KFP v1.
+- [KubeRay](https://docs.ray.io/en/latest/cluster/kubernetes/index.html) controller and 
+[KubeRay API Server](https://ray-project.github.io/kuberay/components/apiserver/) 
 
-and deploy in it KubeRay operator and KubeRay API aerver. You can use
-this [script](../../kind/hack/tools/install_kuberay.sh) or use
-[documentation](https://docs.ray.io/en/master/cluster/kubernetes/getting-started.html#kuberay-quickstart)
+You can install the software from their repositories, or you can use our installation scripts.
 
-To install KFP on your cluster, you can use this
-[script](../../kind/hack/tools/install_kubeflow.sh))
-or refer to KFP [documentation](https://www.kubeflow.org/docs/components/pipelines/v1/installation/overview/).
+If your local kubectl is configured to connect to the external cluster do the following:
+```bash
+export EXTERNAL_CLUSTER=1
+make setup
+```
+
+- In addition, you should configure external access to the KFP UI (`svc/ml-pipeline-ui` in the `kubeflow` ns) and the Ray 
+Server API (`svc/kuberay-apiserver-service` in the `kuberay` ns). Depends on your cluster and its deployment it can be 
+LoadBalancer services, Ingresses or Routes. 
+
+- Optionally, you can upload the test data into the [MinIO](https://min.io/) Object Store, deployed as part of KFP. In 
+order to do this, please provide external access to the Minio (`svc/minio-service` in the `kubeflow` ns) and execute the 
+following commands: 
+```bash
+export MINIO_SERVER=<Minio external URL>
+kubectl apply -f kind/hack/s3_secret.yaml
+kind/hack/populate_minio.sh
+```
 
 ## Deploying workflow
 
diff --git a/kind/Makefile b/kind/Makefile
index 99bbfc687..873510b15 100644
--- a/kind/Makefile
+++ b/kind/Makefile
@@ -13,14 +13,17 @@ include ../.make.defaults
 
 export TOOLS_DIR=${ROOT_DIR}/hack/tools
 
+export EXTERNAL_CLUSTER ?= 0
 export DEPLOY_KUBEFLOW ?= 1
 export USE_KFP_MINIO ?= 1
 export POPULATE_TEST_DATA ?= 1
 KIND_CLUSTER_NAME ?= dataprep
 
 setup::
+ifneq ($(EXTERNAL_CLUSTER), 1)
 	@# Help: Building kind cluster with everything installed
 	$(MAKE) .create-kind-cluster
+endif
 	$(MAKE) cluster-deploy
 	@echo "setup-cluster completed"
 
@@ -32,6 +35,7 @@ cluster-deploy::
 	@# Help: Deploy all required tools on existing cluster
 	$(MAKE) .cluster-prepare
 	$(MAKE) .cluster-prepare-wait
+ifneq ($(EXTERNAL_CLUSTER), 1)
 	cd $(TOOLS_DIR) && ./ingress.sh deploy
 ifeq ($(DEPLOY_KUBEFLOW)$(USE_KFP_MINIO),11)
 	cd $(TOOLS_DIR) && ./install_minio.sh deploy
@@ -40,10 +44,16 @@ ifeq ($(POPULATE_TEST_DATA), 1)
 	$(MAKE) populate-data
 endif
 endif
+endif
 
 clean::
+ifneq ($(EXTERNAL_CLUSTER), 1)
 	@# Help: Deleting the kind cluster
 	cd $(TOOLS_DIR); ./kind_management.sh delete_cluster ${KIND_CLUSTER_NAME}
+else
+	cd $(TOOLS_DIR) && ./install_kuberay.sh cleanup
+	cd $(TOOLS_DIR) && ./install_kubeflow.sh cleanup
+endif
 
 build::
 
@@ -53,14 +63,18 @@ test::
 	cd $(TOOLS_DIR); ./kind_management.sh create_cluster ${KIND_CLUSTER_NAME}
 
 .cluster-prepare::
+ifneq ($(EXTERNAL_CLUSTER), 1)
 	cd $(TOOLS_DIR) && ./install_nginx.sh deploy
+endif
 	cd $(TOOLS_DIR) && ./install_kuberay.sh deploy
 ifeq ($(DEPLOY_KUBEFLOW),1)
 	cd $(TOOLS_DIR) && ./install_kubeflow.sh deploy
 endif
 
 .cluster-prepare-wait::
+ifneq ($(EXTERNAL_CLUSTER), 1)
 	cd $(TOOLS_DIR) && ./install_nginx.sh deploy-wait
+endif
 	cd $(TOOLS_DIR) && ./install_kuberay.sh deploy-wait
 ifeq ($(DEPLOY_KUBEFLOW),1)
 	cd $(TOOLS_DIR) && ./install_kubeflow.sh deploy-wait
diff --git a/kind/README.md b/kind/README.md
index 4eaa31722..ccd543c80 100644
--- a/kind/README.md
+++ b/kind/README.md
@@ -17,7 +17,8 @@ The following programs should be manually installed:
 - [Kubectl](https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/tools/#kubectl) 1.26 or newer must be installed on your machine.
 - [wget](https://www.gnu.org/software/wget/) 1.21 must be installed on your machine.
 - [MinIO Client (mc)](https://min.io/docs/minio/kubernetes/upstream/index.html) must be installed on your machine. Please 
-choose your OS system, and process according to "(Optional) Install the MinIO Client". You have to install the `mc` client only. 
+choose your OS system, and process according to "(Optional) Install the MinIO Client". You have to install the `mc` client only.
+- [git client](https://git-scm.com/downloads), we use git client to clone installation repository
 - [lsof](https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/server/configuration/linux-lsof/) usually it is part of Linux or MacOS distribution.
 - Container agent such as [Docker](https://www.docker.com/) or [Podman](https://podman-desktop.io/)
 
diff --git a/kind/hack/populate_minio.sh b/kind/hack/populate_minio.sh
index b7884a757..843619d31 100755
--- a/kind/hack/populate_minio.sh
+++ b/kind/hack/populate_minio.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,12 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
-echo "creating minio alias"
-mc alias set kfp http://localhost:8080 minio minio123
+if [ "$MINIO_SERVER" == "" ]; then
+    MINIO_SERVER="http://localhost:8080"
+fi
+
+echo "creating minio alias to $MINIO_SERVER"
+mc alias set kfp $MINIO_SERVER minio minio123
+
 echo "creating test bucket"
 mc mb kfp/test
 echo "copying data"
diff --git a/kind/hack/tools/install_kubeflow.sh b/kind/hack/tools/install_kubeflow.sh
index 3456fe476..7aed5fc02 100755
--- a/kind/hack/tools/install_kubeflow.sh
+++ b/kind/hack/tools/install_kubeflow.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ op=$1
 
 source ../common.sh
 
-SLEEP_TIME="${SLEEP_TIME:-50}"
+SLEEP_TIME="${SLEEP_TIME:-60}"
 MAX_RETRIES="${MAX_RETRIES:-20}"
 EXIT_CODE=0
 
@@ -13,9 +13,8 @@ deploy() {
 	echo "Temporary dir:"
 	echo "${TEMP_DIR}"
 	cd $TEMP_DIR
-	git clone https://github.com/kubeflow/pipelines.git
+	git clone https://github.com/kubeflow/pipelines.git --branch ${PIPELINE_VERSION} --single-branch
 	cd pipelines
-	git checkout tags/${PIPELINE_VERSION}
 	kubectl apply -k manifests/kustomize/cluster-scoped-resources
 	kubectl wait --for condition=established --timeout=60s crd/applications.app.k8s.io
 	# Disable the public endpoint
@@ -36,6 +35,8 @@ deploy() {
 
 wait(){
 	echo "Wait for kubeflow deployment."
+	# see https://github.com/kubeflow/pipelines/issues/5411
+	kubectl delete deployment -n kubeflow controller-manager
 	wait_for_pods "kubeflow" "$MAX_RETRIES" "$SLEEP_TIME" || EXIT_CODE=$?
 
 	if [[ $EXIT_CODE -ne 0 ]]
@@ -49,8 +50,9 @@ wait(){
 }
 
 delete(){
-	kubectl delete -k "github.com/kubeflow/pipelines/manifests/kustomize/cluster-scoped-resources?ref=$PIPELINE_VERSION"
-	kubectl delete -k "github.com/kubeflow/pipelines/manifests/kustomize/env/dev?ref=$PIPELINE_VERSION"
+  kubectl delete -k "github.com/kubeflow/pipelines/manifests/kustomize/env/dev?ref=$PIPELINE_VERSION" --ignore-not-found || True
+  kubectl delete -k "github.com/kubeflow/pipelines/manifests/kustomize/cluster-scoped-resources?ref=$PIPELINE_VERSION" --ignore-not-found || True
+  kubectl delete --ignore-not-found clusterrolebinding pipeline-runner-extend
 }
 
 usage(){
diff --git a/kind/hack/tools/install_kuberay.sh b/kind/hack/tools/install_kuberay.sh
index 4d3335f89..7436ecafe 100755
--- a/kind/hack/tools/install_kuberay.sh
+++ b/kind/hack/tools/install_kuberay.sh
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ EXIT_CODE=0
 deploy() {
 	sed -i.back "s/tag: v[0-9].*/tag: v${KUBERAY_APISERVER}/" ${ROOT_DIR}/hack/ray_api_server_values.yaml
 	helm repo add kuberay https://ray-project.github.io/kuberay-helm/
-	helm repo update
+	helm repo update kuberay
 	helm install kuberay-operator kuberay/kuberay-operator -n kuberay --version ${KUBERAY_OPERATOR} --set image.pullPolicy=IfNotPresent --create-namespace
 	helm install -f ${ROOT_DIR}/hack/ray_api_server_values.yaml kuberay-apiserver kuberay/kuberay-apiserver -n kuberay --version ${KUBERAY_APISERVER} --set image.pullPolicy=IfNotPresent
 	echo "Finished KubeRay deployment."
@@ -29,8 +29,9 @@ wait(){
 }
 
 delete(){
-	helm uninstall kuberay-operator -n kuberay
-	helm uninstall kuberay-apiserver -n kuberay
+	helm uninstall kuberay-operator -n kuberay || True
+	helm uninstall kuberay-apiserver -n kuberay || True
+	helm uninstall kuberay-apiserver -n kuberay || True
 }
 
 usage(){