diff --git a/theodolite-benchmarks/uc1-beam-samza/samza-standalone.properties b/theodolite-benchmarks/uc1-beam-samza/samza-standalone.properties
index 8044fe3d7516591b1a0eefb73585f6acc5382409..4e40e0119edbcfba637f0c10fa8ab9cc1342b70b 100644
--- a/theodolite-benchmarks/uc1-beam-samza/samza-standalone.properties
+++ b/theodolite-benchmarks/uc1-beam-samza/samza-standalone.properties
@@ -1,17 +1,13 @@
-# runner
-app.runner.class=org.apache.samza.runtime.LocalApplicationRunner
-
-# zk
+# Configure ZooKeeper for coordination
 job.coordinator.factory=org.apache.samza.zk.ZkJobCoordinatorFactory
-#job.coordinator.zk.connect=my-confluent-cp-zookeeper:2181
-job.coordinator.zk.connect=zookeeper:2181
+job.coordinator.zk.connect=localhost:2181
+
+# Use GroupByContainerIds
 task.name.grouper.factory=org.apache.samza.container.grouper.task.GroupByContainerIdsFactory
 
-# default system
+# Configure Kafka as "system"
 job.default.system=kafka
 systems.kafka.samza.factory=org.apache.samza.system.kafka.KafkaSystemFactory
-systems.kafka.consumer.zookeeper.connect=zookeeper:2181
-#systems.kafka.consumer.zookeeper.connect=my-confluent-cp-zookeeper:2181
-systems.kafka.producer.bootstrap.servers=kafka:9092
-#systems.kafka.producer.bootstrap.servers=my-confluent-cp-kafka:9092
+systems.kafka.consumer.bootstrap.servers=localhost:9092
+systems.kafka.producer.bootstrap.servers=localhost:9092
 systems.kafka.default.stream.replication.factor=1
diff --git a/theodolite-benchmarks/uc2-beam-samza/samza-standalone.properties b/theodolite-benchmarks/uc2-beam-samza/samza-standalone.properties
index 8044fe3d7516591b1a0eefb73585f6acc5382409..4e40e0119edbcfba637f0c10fa8ab9cc1342b70b 100644
--- a/theodolite-benchmarks/uc2-beam-samza/samza-standalone.properties
+++ b/theodolite-benchmarks/uc2-beam-samza/samza-standalone.properties
@@ -1,17 +1,13 @@
-# runner
-app.runner.class=org.apache.samza.runtime.LocalApplicationRunner
-
-# zk
+# Configure ZooKeeper for coordination
 job.coordinator.factory=org.apache.samza.zk.ZkJobCoordinatorFactory
-#job.coordinator.zk.connect=my-confluent-cp-zookeeper:2181
-job.coordinator.zk.connect=zookeeper:2181
+job.coordinator.zk.connect=localhost:2181
+
+# Use GroupByContainerIds
 task.name.grouper.factory=org.apache.samza.container.grouper.task.GroupByContainerIdsFactory
 
-# default system
+# Configure Kafka as "system"
 job.default.system=kafka
 systems.kafka.samza.factory=org.apache.samza.system.kafka.KafkaSystemFactory
-systems.kafka.consumer.zookeeper.connect=zookeeper:2181
-#systems.kafka.consumer.zookeeper.connect=my-confluent-cp-zookeeper:2181
-systems.kafka.producer.bootstrap.servers=kafka:9092
-#systems.kafka.producer.bootstrap.servers=my-confluent-cp-kafka:9092
+systems.kafka.consumer.bootstrap.servers=localhost:9092
+systems.kafka.producer.bootstrap.servers=localhost:9092
 systems.kafka.default.stream.replication.factor=1
diff --git a/theodolite-benchmarks/uc3-beam-samza/samza-standalone.properties b/theodolite-benchmarks/uc3-beam-samza/samza-standalone.properties
index 8044fe3d7516591b1a0eefb73585f6acc5382409..4e40e0119edbcfba637f0c10fa8ab9cc1342b70b 100644
--- a/theodolite-benchmarks/uc3-beam-samza/samza-standalone.properties
+++ b/theodolite-benchmarks/uc3-beam-samza/samza-standalone.properties
@@ -1,17 +1,13 @@
-# runner
-app.runner.class=org.apache.samza.runtime.LocalApplicationRunner
-
-# zk
+# Configure ZooKeeper for coordination
 job.coordinator.factory=org.apache.samza.zk.ZkJobCoordinatorFactory
-#job.coordinator.zk.connect=my-confluent-cp-zookeeper:2181
-job.coordinator.zk.connect=zookeeper:2181
+job.coordinator.zk.connect=localhost:2181
+
+# Use GroupByContainerIds
 task.name.grouper.factory=org.apache.samza.container.grouper.task.GroupByContainerIdsFactory
 
-# default system
+# Configure Kafka as "system"
 job.default.system=kafka
 systems.kafka.samza.factory=org.apache.samza.system.kafka.KafkaSystemFactory
-systems.kafka.consumer.zookeeper.connect=zookeeper:2181
-#systems.kafka.consumer.zookeeper.connect=my-confluent-cp-zookeeper:2181
-systems.kafka.producer.bootstrap.servers=kafka:9092
-#systems.kafka.producer.bootstrap.servers=my-confluent-cp-kafka:9092
+systems.kafka.consumer.bootstrap.servers=localhost:9092
+systems.kafka.producer.bootstrap.servers=localhost:9092
 systems.kafka.default.stream.replication.factor=1
diff --git a/theodolite-benchmarks/uc4-beam-samza/samza-standalone.properties b/theodolite-benchmarks/uc4-beam-samza/samza-standalone.properties
index 6f1f1aa652596ed59587ccbaa0b99ad61b388cf2..fc8e4a196eebdf6a4dc7130eac3b61d37ec5d8aa 100644
--- a/theodolite-benchmarks/uc4-beam-samza/samza-standalone.properties
+++ b/theodolite-benchmarks/uc4-beam-samza/samza-standalone.properties
@@ -1,22 +1,18 @@
-# runner
-app.runner.class=org.apache.samza.runtime.LocalApplicationRunner
-
-# zk
+# Configure ZooKeeper for coordination
 job.coordinator.factory=org.apache.samza.zk.ZkJobCoordinatorFactory
-#job.coordinator.zk.connect=my-confluent-cp-zookeeper:2181
-job.coordinator.zk.connect=zookeeper:2181
+job.coordinator.zk.connect=localhost:2181
+
+# Use GroupByContainerIds
 task.name.grouper.factory=org.apache.samza.container.grouper.task.GroupByContainerIdsFactory
 
-# default system
+# Configure Kafka as "system"
 job.default.system=kafka
 systems.kafka.samza.factory=org.apache.samza.system.kafka.KafkaSystemFactory
-systems.kafka.consumer.zookeeper.connect=zookeeper:2181
-#systems.kafka.consumer.zookeeper.connect=my-confluent-cp-zookeeper:2181
-systems.kafka.producer.bootstrap.servers=kafka:9092
-#systems.kafka.producer.bootstrap.servers=my-confluent-cp-kafka:9092
+systems.kafka.consumer.bootstrap.servers=localhost:9092
+systems.kafka.producer.bootstrap.servers=localhost:9092
 systems.kafka.default.stream.replication.factor=1
 
-
+# Configure serialization and stores 
 serializers.registry.string.class=org.apache.samza.serializers.StringSerdeFactory
 stores.my-store.factory=org.apache.samza.storage.kv.RocksDbKeyValueStorageEngineFactory
 stores.my-store.key.serde=string