To set the record straight: having your application running in the cloud does not automatically qualify it as cloud native.
The Capgemini paper, Cloud native comes of age – what businesses need to know, identifies cloud-native applications are being built to perform optimally in the cloud. It goes further to add that cloud-native apps are composed of micro-services that are independent of each other. They are usually built and run using Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). Continuous delivery, microservices, containers, and DevOps are core features of cloud-native architecture.
So much for trying to keep this simple. I may have a less scientific but more practical definition: a cloud-native application is one that is purposely built for use in the cloud from scratch meaning not based off code originally written on-prem.
Maybe I should just move on.
In defining what cloud native implies, Amr Awadallah, PH.D., chief technology officer, Cloudera, says it must have two characteristics: it must be self-service – it is simplifying the experiences of developers, removing the rigidity that existed in legacy IT.
The other key aspect of cloud native is automatic scalability – the ability to ‘rent’ compute resources up and down as a function of what we are trying to do.
Click here for the full article: Challenges and opportunities of a cloud-native strategy
Click here to subscribe to FutureCIO QuickTakes
