What are Cloud Native Applications?

Cloud native apps refer to software applications that are specifically designed and built to leverage cloud computing principles and technologies. These applications are developed to comprehensively utilize cloud environments’ scalability, resilience, and flexibility. Research reveals that, in 2023, the estimated value of the worldwide Cloud Native applications value of the worldwide Cloud Native applications market revenue was $5.9 billion. It is projected to increase to $17.0 billion by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate of 23.7% from 2023 to 2028. Due to the enormous benefits cloud native application development offer, it has gained massive popularity across the globe.

Key Characteristics of Cloud-Native Applications Include:

• Containerization

Cloud native application development are typically packaged and deployed as containers. Containers provide an isolated, lightweight runtime environment that ensures consistent execution across different infrastructure platforms.

• Microservices Architecture

Cloud native app development uses a microservices architecture, where the application is broken down into smaller, loosely coupled services that can be developed, deployed, and scaled independently. This approach enables agility, scalability, and easier maintenance of the application.

• Dynamic Orchestration

Cloud native applications leverage container orchestration platforms, such as Kubernetes, to manage and scale the deployment of containers across a cluster of servers. Orchestration enables automatic scaling, load balancing, self-healing, and efficient resource utilization.

• DevOps Practices

Cloud native application development emphasizes the integration of development and operations (DevOps) practices. Continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines are typically implemented to automate the build, testing, and deployment processes, ensuring faster and more reliable application delivery.

• Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

Cloud native applications embrace Infrastructure as Code principles, where the infrastructure configuration and provisioning are defined in code. Infrastructure resources are provisioned, managed, and scaled automatically using tools like Terraform or CloudFormation.

• Scalability and Resilience

Cloud native apps are designed to be highly scalable and resilient. They can scale resources based on demand dynamically, handle failures gracefully, and recover quickly from disruptions. This scalability and resilience are achieved through techniques like auto-scaling, load balancing, and fault tolerance.

• Cloud-Native Services

Cloud native applications make use of cloud-native services, such as managed databases, caching, messaging queues, and storage solutions provided by the cloud platform. These services offer pre-built functionality, reduce operational overhead, and integrate well with the application architecture.

By adopting cloud native principles and technologies, organizations can take full advantage of the cloud’s benefits, including scalability, elasticity, cost optimization, and operational efficiency. Cloud native applications are highly portable and can be deployed across different cloud providers or on-premises environments, allowing for flexibility and avoiding vendor lock-in.

What are Traditional Applications?

Traditional applications refer to software programs or applications that are developed using traditional development methodologies and deployed on conventional computing infrastructures. These applications are typically built to run on specific operating systems, such as Windows, macOS, or Linux, and are installed locally on users’ devices or deployed on dedicated servers.

Traditional applications are designed to serve specific functions or tasks and often provide a graphical user interface (GUI) through which users can interact with the software. They are commonly used in various domains, including business, finance, healthcare, education, entertainment, and more.

Traditional vs Cloud Native Applications: Detailed Comparison!

• Development Time

Building Traditional Applications generally requires more time compared to Cloud native application development. Traditional Applications are typically developed and released as a single large package, while Cloud native apps are built using a framework that emphasizes flexibility and adaptability.

• Operating System Dependency

Another significant comparison is related to the operating system. In the conventional application architecture, a dependency exists between the application and the operating system, making scalability and migration a complex and challenging task. On the other hand, the cloud-native application architecture is designed to enable developers to utilize platforms for abstracting dependencies. The primary objective of this approach is to allow teams to concentrate on essential matters while comparing traditional and cloud native application development.

• Fast Deployment

By adopting a Cloud native application development approach, companies can release updates at a faster pace, resulting in quicker responses to user needs and increased user retention. It has become possible due to the ability to locate and trace specific bugs to individual microservices within containers, allowing for swift updates with minimal disruption. This approach saves time and money compared to traditional methods, as less time is spent identifying and fixing issues. Ultimately, updates are a matter of adding new lines of code rather than releasing entirely new application versions.

• Smooth Transition

The primary contrast lies in the development process of both types of applications. In conventional applications, developers hand over the completed code to the operations team for production, causing delays. The traditional approach prioritizes the organization’s structure over customer satisfaction. Conversely, cloud native applications adopt a distinct methodology by integrating people, processes, and tools to facilitate a rapid and seamless transition of finished code into production.

• Cost-effective

In contrast to traditional applications that require setting up data storage and services, cloud-native solutions are more cost-effective as you only pay for what you use. Additionally, the low downtime results in improved work performance despite the amount of work being done. Ultimately, this leads to increased profits in the long run.

• Improved Security

Data security is a major issue that cannot be ignored. Storing data on the cloud may appear less secure than local storage since anyone with server access can access and utilize the stored data and cloud-based applications. However, this is precisely why Cloud-Native Security is renowned, as the data’s ability to be accessed from anywhere in the world makes it highly convenient to use. While a widely adopted approach, traditional app development comes with its own risks and challenges.

What are the Major Risks Associated with Traditional App Development Include?

• Time and Cost Overruns

Traditional app development often involves a linear and sequential approach, where each phase depends on the completion of the previous one. This can lead to delays and cost overruns if any phase encounters unexpected challenges or changes are requested during development.

• Limited Flexibility

Traditional development processes often have limited flexibility to accommodate changing requirements. If there are significant changes or new features requested during development, it can be difficult and costly to modify the existing codebase and adapt to the changes.

• Inefficient Communication

Traditional app development typically involves a linear flow of communication between stakeholders, such as project managers, developers, designers, and testers. This can lead to miscommunication, delays in feedback, and difficulty in resolving issues promptly.

• Limited Scalability

Traditional development methodologies may not be well-suited for scaling an application quickly. As user demands grow and the app needs to handle increased traffic or data volume, the application architecture and infrastructure may require significant modifications, resulting in additional time and costs.

• Longer Time-to-Market

Due to the sequential nature of traditional app development, it can take a significant amount of time to develop and release a fully functional application. This delay can be a disadvantage, especially in fast-paced markets where rapid time-to-market is crucial for gaining a competitive edge.

• Reduced Collaboration

Traditional app development often involves siloed roles and limited collaboration between teams. Developers, designers, and testers may work in isolation, leading to a lack of synergy and reduced overall product quality.

• Quality Assurance Challenges

Testing in traditional app development is typically performed toward the end of the development cycle. This can result in delayed detection of bugs or issues, making it more challenging and costly to rectify them. As quality assurance of an app quality assurance of an app is imperative for its future growth, choosing cloud based app can be the right choice to satisfy quality assurance.

• Technology Obsolescence

Traditional app development projects typically have longer development cycles, and during that time, technology advancements can render specific frameworks, libraries, or tools obsolete. This may lead to compatibility issues, security vulnerabilities, or difficulties in scaling and maintaining the application.

• Higher Maintenance Burden

Traditional app development often leads to complex and tightly coupled codebases. As a result, maintenance and ongoing updates can be more challenging and time-consuming, potentially resulting in increased costs and a higher chance of introducing bugs.

To mitigate these risks, many organizations are adopting more agile and iterative development methodologies, such as Agile or DevOps, emphasizing collaboration, flexibility, and continuous improvement throughout the development process.

Why are Businesses Inclined Toward Cloud Native Applications?

Businesses are increasingly inclined toward cloud-native applications due to several key advantages they offer. Here are some reasons why cloud apps are beneficial for businesses:

• Scalability and Flexibility

Cloud-native applications are built using a modular and distributed architecture, which allows them to scale easily and adapt to changing demands. By leveraging cloud resources, businesses can dynamically allocate computing power, storage, and network resources based on their needs, ensuring optimal performance and cost-efficiency.

• Cost-effectiveness

Cloud-native applications follow a pay-as-you-go model, allowing businesses to reduce infrastructure costs by eliminating the need for on-premises servers and hardware. With cloud providers handling infrastructure maintenance, businesses can focus more on their core competencies and allocate resources effectively.

• Agility and Faster Time-to-Market

Cloud-native applications are designed to be highly agile, enabling businesses to deliver new features and updates rapidly. The modular architecture and containerization of components enable independent development and deployment, reducing the time required for testing and deployment cycles. This agility helps businesses respond quickly to market demands, gain a competitive edge, and launch products faster.

• High Availability and Reliability

Cloud-native applications are built with resilience in mind. They leverage distributed systems and container orchestration platforms like Kubernetes to ensure high availability and fault tolerance. By replicating services across multiple servers and data centers, businesses can minimize downtime and ensure a reliable user experience user experience.

• DevOps and Automation

Cloud-native applications encourage the adoption of DevOps practices, enabling collaboration between development and operations teams. Automation tools and infrastructure-as-code practices allow for streamlined deployment, configuration management, and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines. This leads to faster and more efficient development cycles.

• Innovation and Experimentation

Cloud-native architecture promotes innovation by providing a scalable and secure platform for experimenting with new ideas. By leveraging cloud services, businesses can easily integrate emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, the Internet of Things (IoT), and big data analytics into their applications, enabling them to unlock new business opportunities and gain insights from vast amounts of data.

• Vendor Lock-in Mitigation

Applications that are cloud-native are created to operate on specific platforms and make use of technologies that are not tied to any particular cloud service. This reduces the risk of vendor lock-in, allowing businesses to migrate between different cloud providers or adopt a multi-cloud strategy, thereby maintaining flexibility and avoiding dependency on a single provider.

Overall, the inclination toward cloud-native applications stems from their ability to deliver scalability, flexibility, cost-effectiveness, agility, reliability, innovation, and reduced vendor lock-in. These benefits empower businesses to stay competitive, improve operational efficiency, and drive digital transformation.

5 Ways Cloud Has Changed The Face of Businesses:

Certainly! Here are five ways in which cloud computing has transformed the business landscape:

• Scalability and Flexibility

Cloud computing allows businesses to scale their IT infrastructure quickly and easily. Rather than investing into costly hardware and software upfront, organizations can leverage cloud services to expand or downsize their resources as needed. This scalability enables businesses to respond to changing market demands more effectively and efficiently.

• Global Reach

Clouds can be accessed over the internet from anywhere. A file that you upload from your PC in Chicago and be accessed by your partner with their tablet in Beijing. The point is that applications, data, and infrastructure can be shared over the cloud. Businesses, especially from the IT sector, can comfortably deliver services across the globe.

Social media and search engines are services that rely extensively on the cloud. These services have turned the table for marketing. Single-person companies operated from home can gain clients from anywhere in the world with these marketing solutions all because of the cloud.

• Enhanced Collaboration and Productivity

The cloud has greatly improved collaboration within and between organizations. Cloud-based collaboration tools, such as shared documents and real-time communication platforms, enable teams to work together seamlessly regardless of their physical location. Employees can access files, data, and applications from any device with an internet connection, promoting remote work and increasing overall productivity.

• Data Storage and Disaster Recovery

Cloud storage has transformed the way businesses store and manage their data. Cloud-based storage solutions provide businesses with virtually unlimited storage capacity, eliminating the need for on-premises servers and costly hardware upgrades. Additionally, cloud providers often offer robust disaster recovery services, ensuring that data is protected and easily recoverable in the event of an unforeseen incident.

• Innovation and Agility

Cloud computing has become a catalyst for innovation and agility in businesses. With cloud services, companies can experiment with new technologies, test new applications, and bring products and services to market faster. The cloud provides a flexible and scalable infrastructure that enables businesses to adopt emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data analytics without significant upfront investments or infrastructure overhauls.

These are just a few examples of how cloud computing has transformed the face of businesses, providing them with new opportunities for growth, efficiency, and competitive advantage.
To mitigate these risks, alternative development methodologies such as agile or iterative approaches have gained popularity, as they offer more flexibility, continuous feedback, and the ability to adapt to changing requirements.

Traditional vs. Cloud Native App Development: What’s Best for You?

When deciding between traditional app development and cloud native app development, it’s important to consider your specific requirements and circumstances. Both approaches have their own advantages and considerations.

Ultimately, the best approach depends on your needs, budget, and expertise. Traditional applications may be suitable if you have predictable workloads, existing infrastructure, and specific regulatory requirements. Cloud-native applications are often preferred for their scalability, agility, and cost-efficiency, especially if you embrace a DevOps mindset and have variable workloads or want to focus on innovation.

Hire a Cloud Application Development Company Today!

Team mTraction Enterprise specializes in creating cloud-native applications with domain-driven designs. They utilize various DevOps tools such as Node.js, Kotlin, Kubernetes, Docker, Gitlab CI/CD, and more to facilitate automated management experiences in public, private, hybrid, and multi-cloud computing environments.

Our focus is on delivering personalized cloud-native services for enterprises that seek a comprehensive solution with the same level of adaptability and accessibility as a public cloud platform, yet with the added benefit of retaining full control over crucial business workflows and extensive datasets. To know more, you can Contact Us directly.

Frequently Asked Questions!

1. What is the Cost of Cloud App Development?

Several factors can cause a significant variation in the cost of creating a cloud-based application, such as the complexity of the application, the number of features, the technology stack used, the development team’s location and experience, and the time required to complete the project. It is vital to work with a reputable development team that can provide a detailed estimate based on your specific requirements.

2. How to Choose a Cloud App Development Company?

When choosing a cloud app development company, there are several factors to consider, which include Experience, ExpertiseExpertise, Security, Cost, Reviews, and references to get an idea of the company’s reputation and quality of work.

3. What if I choose Traditional App Development over Cloud-based Apps?

Choosing traditional app development over cloud-based app development will depend on your needs and requirements. Traditional app development involves building an application installed and running locally on a device. In contrast, cloud-based app development involves building an application that runs on remote servers and is accessed through the Internet. Ultimately, the choice depends on your specific needs and requirements.