Cloud-native architectures will help your organization to stay competitive in a changeable market. Tech companies are now moving towards cloud-based infrastructures to support and promote their digital transformation. The move from on-premises software to the cloud has revolutionized the process of application development, specifically in the saaS (software as a service) realm. However, using the cloud is not always enough – for optimal flexibility, availability and scalability, IT departments need to migrate applications to being cloud-native. When developing cloud-native applications, there are some principles that are easy to understand. They don’t have rigid definitions, but they’re still important principles.
What does “Cloud Native” mean?
Cloud-native applications are software systems that can use distributed computing, so they work well in dynamic environments. Developers create them with distributed system models and require cloud-based services with a high amount of availability. With dynamic resource allocation, the application size changes depending on the current requirement and consumes the resources needed.
When a business needs to scale their application, they can use service or microservice architectures that will allow them to better manage the size and complexity of the application. Containers let you deploy your services quickly and easily by limiting them to the resources they need and locking it in. Kubernetes is the de-facto standard for container orchestration, managing containers and creating dynamic-sized applications.
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With the cloud, you can store and manage data using cloud-managed databases and point it to centralized data services. A cloud-optimized database automatically scales with the application, making large amounts of data available quickly. These are standard requirements for a cloud-native application.
New development and operational workflows include DevOps, CI/CD, Git Source Management. It’s best to use applications that are cloud-native because they are able to work on any type of provider. Cloud platforms are now large and complex, so your DevOps implementation should span different cloud platforms. For a modern interpretation of DevSecOps, you must build it and run it securely. Security practices must also integrate Dev and Ops for a successful cloud-native app.
To ensure the end-to-end security of a multi-cloud app, hybrid networking is becoming a requirement. Systems that are self-healing and fault tolerant will be able to help in the management of an enterprise’s cloud needs. Reactive defense measures are being increasingly assisted by AI due to human limitations.
‘Everything as Code’ is an extension of ‘Infrastructure as Code’, and it also incorporates more paradigms, such as security. For example, when it comes to a company’s governance, ‘Policy as Code’ is used.
Why is a cloud-native architecture the perfect option for your business?
This is because modern, best-in-class applications must be cloud-native and operate quickly.
In a sense, automating repetitive tasks that consume IT resources is vital to the growth of any business. It saves money and time, but there is also environmental impact with the conserved power and resources.
Agility is the ability to quickly recognize and respond to changes. In modern businesses, agility is crucial. Organizations who develop cloud-native applications are able to respond more effectively, because they can change their data flow independently of new technology and business needs.
As your business grows, so do your application’s resource requirements and without dynamic scalability you will find that traditional infrastructures cannot cope. Dynamic cloud infrastructure enables automatic, manageable scaling of applications but this is only for cloud-native applications.
Recovery should be automated in order to quickly return to normal operations. After application errors or failures, customers will appreciate a high level of service provided by the company.
To prepare for failures, add fault-tolerant designs and failover mechanisms to improve your app’s resiliency and availability. Cloud-native architectures leverage automatic resiliency in modern applications.
The CI/CD process speeds up the deployment of applications to live production systems, without compromising on quality and reliability. This in turn increases business agility, software quality and responsiveness to customers.
