So what is Cloud Native?

Cloud native is an approach to building and running applications that takes full advantage of the capabilities of cloud computing. The term "cloud native" is often used to describe a set of best practices for developing and deploying applications in the cloud.

At its core, cloud native is about designing applications as a collection of microservices, each of which can be deployed independently and scaled horizontally to meet demand. This allows for greater flexibility and agility, as well as improved fault tolerance and resilience.

The four pillars of Cloud Native are Microservices, DevOps, Open Standards and Containers.

1. Microservices are commonly used in cloud native architecture because they offer several benefits that align well with the goals of cloud computing, including scalability, fault tolerance, and agility. Microservices are typically smaller and more focused than monolithic applications, which makes them easier to develop, test, and deploy. This allows teams to move faster and respond more quickly to changing business requirements. A failure in one microservice does not necessarily cause the entire application to fail. This means that individual microservices can be replaced or updated without disrupting the entire system.

2. DevOps is a set of practices that emphasizes collaboration and communication between development and operations teams, with the goal of delivering software faster and more reliably. When it comes to cloud native architecture, DevOps plays a critical role in enabling continuous delivery and deployment. DevOps teams work closely with development teams to ensure that code changes are integrated and tested rapidly, with a focus on automating as much of the deployment process as possible.Another key aspect of DevOps in a cloud native architecture is the use of infrastructure-as-code (IaC) tools, such as Terraform or CloudFormation, which allow for declarative configuration of infrastructure resources.

3. Adopting cloud native open standards is important for several reasons:

• Cloud native open standards help organizations avoid vendor lock-in by ensuring that their applications and infrastructure are not tied to any particular cloud provider or proprietary technology.

• Open standards promote interoperability between different cloud platforms and technologies, enabling organizations to integrate their applications and infrastructure with a wide range of tools and services.

• Open standards foster innovation by enabling developers and organizations to collaborate on new technologies and approaches to cloud computing.

• Open standards are typically developed through a community-driven process, which ensures that the needs and perspectives of a wide range of stakeholders are considered.

4. Containers enable organizations to package applications into a standard format that can be easily deployed and run on any cloud platform or infrastructure. Orchestration on the other hand is the process of managing and automating the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. Containers and orchestration are essential components of cloud native architecture, enabling organizations to build and manage scalable, portable, and resilient applications that can run on any cloud platform or infrastructure.

Finally, cloud native practices offer significant business benefits, including faster time-to-market, greater scalability, improved resilience, reduced costs, and better agility and flexibility. By adopting cloud native practices, organizations can improve their software development processes and deliver better products and services to their customers.