What Is Cloud-Native Computing and 4 Reasons Why Businesses Need It
- Written by Lilly Miller
Over the last couple of years, we have heard a lot of things about digital transformation and how cloud computing makes an integral part of this disruptive development. And truly, replacing your on-site tools and infrastructure for the cloud-based alternatives provides businesses with a great level of speed and agility necessary for dealing with the challenges of the present-day business environment.
Cloud-native computing makes the next logical step in this global digital transition and we are going to hear more and more about it in the following years.
With the things as they are, the best thing we can do is to go with the flow, learn as much as we can about this technology and see how we can leverage its perks to benefit our companies. Let’s take one step at a time.
What is cloud-native computing?
So, the first thing we need to clear out is what exactly hides behind the term “cloud-native computing.” And, the answer may vary depending on the perspective and the time we talk about. For instance, some ten years ago, the term was coined by cloud-based companies like Netflix to describe any kind of tech that uses Cloud infrastructure to faster deliver products to their customers.
These days, the focus of this term has largely shifted from delivery to infrastructure.
By modern definition, cloud-native applications are based on what we call microservices. As opposed to them, traditional monolithic web applications that keep UI, business logic, and data access layer all at the same place. The problem with this concept is that every new feature required multiple teams working on the code integration and insane level of functional testing, usually with only one or two compatible languages.
Cloud-native apps break this monolithic infrastructure into smaller loosely-coupled microservices where each one of them features bounded contexts and functions independently from the surrounding services. This makes separate facets of cloud-native apps much more versatile and reusable for a number of different mobile apps, web apps, and SPA web apps.
The Benefits of Cloud-Native Apps
More agility increases overall productivity
As we can see above, the changes, new features, and eventual infrastructure overhauls are ushered much faster and with fewer growing pains than in the traditional monolithic development environment. Hiring a professional cloud-native development company can streamline your development cycles even further, producing an unprecedented level of leanness, speed, and agility. All these things allow you to easily adapt to market necessities while still keeping the main focus on the activities that keep your company profitable.
Excellent scalability options
Using the versatile pay-as-you-go subscription model, we can say cloud services are inherently nimble. Well, breaking down these services into smaller loosely connected assets, makes the whole concept even more agile and scalable. Namely, having the benefit of microservices allows you to fine-tune smaller facets of your apps without having to change the entire product. Also, performing changes in such an isolated sandbox environment produces a very low rollback, recovery, and cluster meltdown all without extra infrastructure planning and provisioning.
Access to top-tier talent
At this very moment, cloud-native apps are pushing the tech envelope and making one of the most exciting cloud-tech innovations. It is only natural that this field of development also attracts the hottest, most ambitious, and talented professionals from the world of app development. So, by adding the cloud-native apps to the infrastructure you will instantly make your company and your future projects much more attractive to these rising talents. Having access to such quality development staff also puts your company in the position to disrupt the market trends rather than follow the disruptors.
An opportunity to lock better vendor deals
Last but not least, we would like to point out that a lot of tools, platforms, and assets rely on legacy systems that no longer feature wide support. That, effectively, allows vendors to twist the arm of the customers and dictate predatory prices that are far above the market average. On the other hand, cloud-native apps offer access to a variety of different platforms, languages, and tools making no vendors irreplaceable. Because of that, you will have a much easier job closing down the deals that are far more favorable to your company.
We hope these few considerations give you a clearer idea about what the cloud-native apps exactly are and how you can use them to benefit your growing company. The nature of present-day digital tech makes staying in the loop with the latest trends imperative rather than an option. Well, it is good to know then that cloud-native apps might just be the hot new things your company is looking for.
