Overview
Cloud-native is an approach to building and running applications that fully leverages the benefits of cloud computing. It focuses on scalability, resilience, and agility by using modern technologies such as containers, microservices, Kubernetes, DevOps, and continuous delivery pipelines. Cloud-native is less about where applications run and more about how they are designed and operated.
What Problem Does It Solve?
Traditional applications are often monolithic and tightly coupled to specific infrastructure, making them hard to scale, update, or move across environments. Cloud-native solves this by promoting modular, portable architectures that can adapt quickly to demand and change. It enables enterprises to innovate faster while maintaining reliability.
How It Works
- Containers: Package applications with dependencies for consistent deployment anywhere.
- Microservices: Break applications into smaller, independent services that can be developed and scaled separately.
- Orchestration: Tools like Kubernetes manage scaling, availability, and lifecycle of containers.
- DevOps and CI/CD: Automate integration, testing, and delivery of updates.
- Observability: Metrics, logging, and tracing are built in to monitor performance and detect issues quickly.
Everyday Benefits
- Faster development and release cycles.
- Easier scaling up or down based on demand.
- Higher resilience, as failures in one service do not bring down the entire application.
- Portability across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.
Deployment Considerations
Becoming cloud-native is as much a cultural shift as a technical one. It requires DevOps practices, automation, and a shift away from monolithic applications. Organisations must invest in new skills, tools, and processes to fully realise cloud-native benefits. For many, the transition is gradual, starting with containerisation and CI/CD pipelines before moving toward microservices and service meshes.
