What does cloud native mean?

Cloud native refers to an approach to software development in which applications are specifically designed to run in the cloud. They are scalable, flexible, and leverage modern technologies such as containers, microservices, and DevOps practices.

Cloud computing offers many advantages for businesses. These include easy scalability of IT services, organizational flexibility, remote access, and reduced hardware costs. To fully benefit from these advantages, applications must be specifically designed for and operated within a cloud environment. This is precisely where the cloud native development approach comes into play.

This approach focuses on developing applications as individual microservices, which are not run on-premises but on container-based, agile platforms. The result is native cloud applications (NCAs) that fully leverage the strengths of cloud architecture.

How does cloud native work?

The cloud native approach is based on four pillars that are intertwined and interdependent. On the technical end, you have microservices and container technologies that were specifically developed for the cloud environment and are fundamental to the cloud native approach. Each microservice performs only a single function and can be combined in a container with everything needed for its execution. These containers are portable and provide development teams with significant flexibility, such as when testing new services.

On the strategy end, you have DevOps processes and continuous delivery. After all, when developing a properly functioning cloud native architecture, you need both development teams (developers = Dev) and IT operations (operations = Ops). Good cloud native applications are thus created through close collaboration of all parties involved. With agile DevOps practices, the best solution for end users is pursued from the very start. As part of the ongoing collaboration, the development team keeps adding specific product features to microservices which are delivered automatically using continuous delivery processes.

Features of cloud native applications

Cloud native applications are defined by a set of distinct characteristics that differentiate them from traditional apps:

• Microservice architecture: A key feature of cloud native applications is that they consist of multiple independent services, each with its own runtime environment. These services are loosely coupled and operate independently from one another and from the underlying infrastructure. They can be freely combined, duplicated for use in other applications, and reused as needed.
• APIs: Communication between microservices takes place through standardized APIs, giving users the impression that they are interacting with a single unified application. These services are designed in such a way that they could also be integrated into other applications.
• Automation: Another key feature of cloud native services is their highly predictable behavior and extensive automation. Unlike on-premises applications that run in traditional server environments, the performance of a cloud native application is precisely tailored to current needs. As a result, the entire application never has to be scaled as a whole. Instead, individual microservices are upgraded independently based on demand. These processes often run automatically, triggered by predefined events.
• Availability: With traditional on-premises software, rolling out individual updates often results in downtime for the affected service. This issue is eliminated with cloud native applications. The cloud-native architecture allows development teams to deploy changes—such as new product features—in real time. This means that users have immediate access to new features as soon as the code is deployed. In the event of service or infrastructure failures, distributed recovery mechanisms are in place to ensure that users experience no noticeable disruptions.

What are the advantages of cloud native?

In cloud environments, the cloud native approach offers several advantages, which we’ve summarized in the following sections.

Flexibility

The major advantage of the cloud native approach is its flexibility. Since all services run independently of their environment and microservice containers are portable, developers have a great deal of freedom. For example, it is possible to start or stop multiple container instances. This is particularly useful in testing and development stages. Unlike with monolithic architecture, changes in the code of a single microservice will not affect the entire software. This means that there is less risk with new software releases.

Scalability

Another major advantage is the scalability of the applications themselves, thanks to which companies do not have to make costly hardware upgrades as the demands on a service grow.

Avoid lock-in effect

Since individual services are not tied to specific hardware or operating systems, there is no strong commitment to a single provider. Cloud native applications can run on any platform which allows IT operations to choose the provider that offers the best bang for their buck and meets their needs.

Timeliness and automation

The fact that updates and changes are available immediately when using the cloud native architecture allows companies to respond to customer and market demands with the greatest possible speed. The high level of automation afforded by orchestration solutions like Kubernetes also minimizes human error when it comes to configuration and operation.

Conclusion

With the numerous benefits that cloud native offers DevOps teams, it is just a matter of time before this software development approach becomes completely mainstream. Ultimately, it is its ability to adapt quickly to evolving business requirements and technological innovations that makes cloud native the application model of the future.