Cloud-Native Technologies: Essential Insights and Benefits

Application development has evolved to a stage where users expect continuous innovation and immediate responsiveness. In response, businesses are strategically leveraging cloud-native technologies to meet these demands while maintaining flexibility.

Various industry cloud providers offer tools and services to expedite application creation and decrease operational tasks. The term 'cloud-native' is a collective term for the different toolkits and methods that form a platform for building, deploying, and managing applications in the cloud.

What is Cloud-Native?

As a whole, cloud-native technologies encompass the approach to design, construction, and operational structures in the cloud that utilize the rising model of cloud computing. 

The Cloud-Native Computing Foundation specifies that through cloud-native technologies, organizations can “build and run scalable applications in modern, dynamic environments such as public, private, and hybrid clouds.” Cloud-native approaches can include service meshes, immutable infrastructure, microservices, and containers.

Cloud-native technologies utilize the speed and agility the cloud provides. Through the cloud delivery model, enterprises can take advantage of distributed computing, accelerating their business and growth. Using the scale, resilience, and elasticity cloud-native apps provide, organizations can ensure their ideas reach the market at a faster rate.

Key Attributes and Benefits of Cloud-Native Technologies

Native cloud applications exploit the flexibility and resilience of cloud computing. They, therefore, have many benefits compared to the traditional architectures for on-premises data centers. 

• Independent. Cloud-native applications can be built independently of each other, allowing for individual deployment and maintenance. 
• Resilient. Even during an infrastructure shortage, cloud-native applications can stay online. They can deploy and update software with minimal-to-no downtime. 
• Standardized. Due to the Cloud-Native Computing Organization and open source standards, cloud-native technologies stay regulated and standardized, increasing portability and accessibility. 
• Flexible. Cloud-native applications are smaller than traditional applications, making them easier to iterate and develop. 
• Affordable. Cloud-native technologies often utilize a pay-per-use model resulting in lower hosting costs. Through the economies of scale, spending will shift from capital expenditures to primarily operational-based expenditures, increasing affordability. 
• Efficient. Utilizing cloud-native technologies allows for faster development and less time dealing with infrastructure quirks, an appealing feature for developers. Happier developers result in higher-quality products, increased innovation, and efficient development.
• Modern. Cloud-native applications can take advantage of multi-cloud compatible tooling and avoid predatory pricing. You can always migrate to an alternative public cloud with better offerings, leaving legacy offerings behind. 

The transition to cloud-native technologies has transformed the way software is developed by maximizing customer experiences across a business’s platform. For a company to both thrive and set itself apart, it must remain flexible and dynamic. Organizations put themselves at a disadvantage when they fail to leverage cloud-native applications.