An illustration of the building blocks required to make cloud native apps, their benefits, and challenges that they face!
Cloud-native application development is a modern approach to building and running applications on the cloud, leveraging its flexibility and scalability. In 2024, it’s expected to be a dominant trend, with Gartner estimating – over 95% of new digital workloads will be deployed on cloud-native platforms by 2025. Cloud-native applications are agile as the microservices work independently and utilize less computing resources than traditional apps.
What makes cloud native apps work?
Cloud-native applications are built using following techniques:
- Kubernetes: This open-source platform is used for automating the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications
- APIs: It is a set of protocols for building application software
- DevOps: Automates continuous integration and delivery pipelines (CI/CD) to rapidly test and push new codes to production
- Provisioning layer: It typically involves treating infrastructure as code, storing images in a repository, and automating builds.
- Runtime layer: Involves networking ability and a container runtime.
- Serverless Computing: The cloud provider manages the server infrastructure, and the infrastructure scales and configures automatically to meet application needs.
- Microservices: An application is divided into independent services acc. To their unique functions.
- Containers: Standalone software packages bundle dependencies to ensure reliable performance.
- Cloud observability: To provide insights into the internal state of a cloud-native environment
- DevOps: Automates continuous integration and continuous delivery pipelines to rapidly test and push new codes to production
- Orchestration: The process of managing multiple containers across a cluster of nodes
- System integration: It includes Continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) to get code changes into production easily.
Function and Process of cloud native apps
Microservices break an application into small, self-contained services, each with its specific task. Further containerization packages individual microservices and their dependencies into lightweight, isolated containers. It is a way of packaging and deploying applications that allows them to run consistently across different environments.
What should cloud-native developers be careful about?
Any new or upcoming technology faces challenges while they are learning to thrive. But once it starts performing well, and app development companies start adopting it, it lowers overall cost. The challenges that any cloud application development company is currently facing are:
- Security: Cloud environments are vulnerable to cyber attacks, and complex technologies like containers and Kubernetes increase the attack surface.
- Vendor lock-in: Also known as customer lock-in or proprietary lock-in, makes customers become dependent on a vendor and they are not able to change without incurring some cost.
- Scalability: Scaling a predefined cloud native app is not easy.
- Cost: Managing cost-effectiveness is not always possible.
- Learning curve: It is hard to learn.
- Compliance: Security and compliance is a concern in cloud-native development (discussed later)
Problems with security of cloud native apps
Cloud-native architectures involve a mix of technologies like containers, microservices, and serverless functions, which changes rapidly. If the default settings are not authorized, the chances of attacks increase. Data theft, data loss, and reputational damage occurs due to security risks. APIs are the glue that holds microservices together which is vulnerable. Limited visibility and control over data stored by third-party suppliers in the cloud.
Benefits of Cloud Native Application Development (Trends to look out for in 2024)
By implementing continuous monitoring throughout the CI/CD pipeline to detect and respond to security incidents security and compliance is infused into cloud native app development to make it secure. Regular compliance audits keeps security policies up to date with prevailing regulatory requirements. Designing strong cluster networking policies to restrict traffic and strengthen security. Encrypting traffic and authenticating users to keep application components secure limits access to clusters and secure sensitive information. Compliance frameworks ISO 27001, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, and GDPR.
Trends often merge with the numerous benefits that cloud native app development beholds:
While every emerging new technology imbibes an essence of IoT, AI, ML, Robotics or similar technologies, if they are able to successfully prevent the challenges, they are good to thrive in long run. Here is a list of advantages that cloud application development services bring to the table:
- Edge computing: Processing data close to where it’s collected to improve real-time processing and reduce latency
- Serverless computing: Building and running containerized applications without managing servers
- AI and machine learning integration: Integrating AI services into cloud solutions
- Kubernetes and containerization: Using technologies like Kubernetes and Docker
- Hybrid and multi-cloud strategies: Utilizing both public and private clouds to enhance security and business efficiency
- DevSecOps: Integrating security into the development process
- Low-code/no-code platforms: Using platforms that require little to no coding
- Service mesh with microservices: Using service mesh with microservices
- Infrastructure as code (IaC): A crucial component of cloud native application development, IaC revolutionizes the way developers and operations teams manage and provision IT infrastructure.
- Observability and AIOps
- AI as a service (AIaaS)
- Sustainable cloud computing
- Blockchain integration
- Real-time cloud infrastructure
- Increased efficiency
- Reduced cost
- Enhanced availability
- Faster design, deployment, and scaling
- Continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD)
- Modular and maintainable applications
- Faster innovation
- Consistent user experience across public, private, or hybrid clouds
Popular Examples of Cloud Native Applications
Applications for SaaS, Big data analytics, Storage, Disaster recovery, Education, Social networking, Machine learning, App Engine, E-commerce; E.g: Airbnb, Netflix, Google Drive, Dropbox, Salesforce, Amazon Web Services, Slack, Zoom, Asana, Trello, and Hubspot.
