What are Cloud-Native Apps? 

Cloud-native application development offers a method of quickly building and maintaining apps while iteratively improving their quality and reducing risk to the organization. This is accomplished through an innovative methodology that enables developers to build apps that are responsive, fault-tolerant, and scalable. The cloud-native development paradigm is supported in public, private, and hybrid cloud environments.  

Businesses need to address fluctuating market conditions and customer expectations promptly or risk falling behind the competition. Cloud-native apps are built and deployed directly in the cloud. It’s all about speed and agility. 

Using the cloud infrastructure as its foundation, cloud-native development is characterized by five pillars.  

• Modern design - Cloud-based development employs principles and practices that enable apps to be deployed and scaled rapidly. Features can be added quickly to react to a constantly evolving business landscape. 

• Microservices - These building blocks are small and independent services that work together to produce a cloud-native application. Microservices each implement specific functionality, are developed and deployed autonomously, and communicate through standard communication protocols. 

• Containers - The code, dependencies, and runtime of microservices are packaged together in a container that can be duplicated and run as needed.  

• Backing services - Cloud providers offer managed backing services such as storage, security, and monitoring to augment the functionality of cloud-native apps. 

• Automation - Automated provisioning and deployment are essential components of cloud-native application development.  

Benefits of Cloud-Native Apps 

Businesses can achieve several advantages by incorporating cloud-native apps into their IT strategy. Following are some of the most important benefits of embracing a cloud-native development approach. 

• Apps can be developed and brought to market rapidly, allowing businesses to capitalize on new trends and developments in their market sector.  

• App performance can be tuned and improved on-demand to quickly address customer expectations. 

• Cloud-native development enables features to be added and app performance optimized without modifying the entire application, minimizing resource utilization and eliminating extensive downtime.  

• Cloud-native apps are more easily integrated with other solutions and foster collaboration with other companies. This opens the door for new business partnerships that benefit all participants. 

• As the cloud-native development path gains popularity, companies opting for traditional methods will be left behind. Customers expecting the responsiveness and innovation possible with cloud-native apps will be more inclined to do business with companies addressing their needs. 

Cloud-native apps provide another strategy with which businesses can drive digital transformation and thrive in an ultra-competitive market. The flexibility, agility, and innovation possible with a cloud-native approach to app development provide companies with the ability to differentiate themselves from the competition by constantly refining and improving the customer experience. For that reason, cloud-native strategies are poised to become the dominant methods of application development.