Software is consuming the world, as they say.
If you let it, software can transform your business. Not so long ago, its main function, and that of IT more broadly, was to play a supporting role in any enterprise. It was a bag-carrier to the vastly more important function of doing business. Fast-forward to the present and software is the rainmaker, with the ability to create, or shut down, business opportunities.
No wonder digital transformation is high on the C-suite agenda. However, to say digital transformation is all about technology misses the point. Digital transformation is about re-imagining the business from the perspective of the customer, and working back from there. The technology should fit around this basic tenet of delivering what the customer wants.
Enter… cloud-native development and testing.
Scale, speed, and awesome functionality
When it comes to delivering exceptional customer experience, the cloud is in a league of its own. Businesses are pretty much aware of the flexibility advantages of hosting and accessing information in the cloud, but are they ready for the next step: becoming cloud-native?
Being cloud-native means actually building, deploying and operating the business from the cloud. It entails working through DevSecOps processes and tools within a serverless architecture. It involves implementing containers and applying microservices practices. But why do it? To answer that question, we need to look at what being cloud-native enables.
When they’re not tethered by infrastructure constraints, businesses are able to improve quality, efficiency, and their own agility. That is why cloud-native development goes hand-in-hand with digital transformation for so many enterprises. The true potential of the Agile value proposition is best realized when designing, building, testing, and operating within a smoothly running cloud-native environment. It enables enterprises to drive the changes they want to see and respond to customer needs and market conditions more quickly.
How cloudy is your business agenda?
Most enterprises are already using cloud services and have plans to expand and deepen their cloud presence. Drivers for cloud adoption are often deeply entrenched business goals that span all areas of an enterprise. For instance, cost savings are often the biggest driver (according RightScale’s 2018 State of the Cloud report). Another big enterprise-wide initiative is moving workloads to the cloud. Other typical initiatives are business unit (BU) specific, and will involve IT working in close partnership with the BU. For instance, moving financial reporting to the cloud, adopting containers or setting up CI/CD in the cloud.
Enterprises would be forgiven for asking, “When we’re already deploying various cloud initiatives, is it necessary to go cloud-native?”
The short answer is yes… and we will show you why.
One of our aims at Apexon is to demystify cloud-native. With a solid plan, end-to-end services, and a little expertise along the way, enterprises can take advantage of the cloud computing model.
We’re so serious about the advantages of going cloud-native, we’ve compiled our top nine reasons for why cloud-native is best.
1. Cloud-native infrastructure is a lot easier to maintain and upgrade.
2. Scaling your initiative is easy with the right platform and zero dependency on hardware.
3. The cloud is the ideal environment to get automated testing and CI/CD up and running, which leads to reduced cycle times and faster time-to-market.
4. Automated, intelligent, cloud-native testing isn’t limited by hardware constraints. For instance, Apexon’s own cloud-native testing services harness AI, ML and data analytics from our AI-powered testing suite, ASTUTE, to delivery better performing, higher quality apps.
5. Cloud-native development spurs innovation. Without infrastructure constraints, you’re only limited by your imagination.
6. Increased accessibility is a key technical advantage of cloud-native development.
7. Multi-tenancy access controls mean enterprises’ security and privacy concerns are addressed while enabling them to benefit from the advantages of cloud deployment.
8. It’s easier to expand functionality with cloud-based integration testing.
9. AI-based data analytics hold the key to future business decision-making and customer service and, when it comes to seriously impressive big data analytics, the cloud is the place to be.
Apexon has extensive, hands-on experience in working with leading enterprise and open-source cloud enablement tools, including Kong, Nagios, Spring Boot, Netflix OSS, Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Service (AWS). And, being part of the AWS Partner Network (APN) on both a consulting and technology basis, we’re able to help enterprises take full advantage of its capabilities. If you want to discuss how to accelerate your enterprise’s shift to cloud, contact us today.
