Gartner estimates that by 2025, about 95% of new digital workloads will be deployed on cloud-native platforms. The question thus arises – Is your business ready to leverage the cloud-native approach for enterprise development?
This blog sheds light on the cloud-native development challenges and factors that are paramount to the success of a low-code cloud-native platform.
Cloud-Native Development Challenges
1. High Cost
The cost of cloud-native deployment is higher than traditional development because cloud providers charge for the resources used and their services. For example, if a company uses AWS Elastic Beanstalk to deploy its application, it will need to pay for the compute instances required by the app and any additional services needed (like load balancing).
2. Skills Shortage
Most developers are familiar with traditional application development. However, cloud-native apps require specific knowledge of subjects like Docker and Kubernetes, which are still relatively new to most organizations.
3. Web Services Growth
With the increase in size and complexity of web services, it becomes difficult to manage them effectively. Every new service adds another layer to the existing stack, complicating the understanding of the entire system.
4. Larger Enterprise Portfolios
As companies add new apps to their portfolio and expand data centers across geographies, it becomes increasingly difficult for IT departments to manage their network infrastructure efficiently. The adoption of cloud computing has helped many companies overcome this problem by enabling them to use public clouds to deploy applications that can be scaled up quickly when necessary.
However, managing multiple workloads across different clouds still poses challenges because organizations need tools that can provide visibility into the real-time status of their entire IT environment without creating more complexity than necessary.
No-Code Platforms for Cloud Native Development
No-code cloud-native platforms can help transform and maintain microservices as Kubernetes deployments. These solutions produce the pipeline code for end-to-end automation and Docker files during the transformation process. By comparing low-code platform use for BPM application development with their use for cloud-native deployments, it can be said that most of their features are still relevant in a cloud-native setting.
Factors That Are Paramount to the Success of a Low-Code Cloud-Native Platform
1. Scaffolding
The scaffolding of a cloud-native platform is like the framework of a building. It is necessary for the stability of the entire structure. Regardless of how sophisticated or simple it might be, the scaffolding serves as a foundation upon which other elements can be built. Without this important element, building a strong and resilient cloud-native platform would not be possible.
2. Sophisticated Modeling
Sophisticated modeling is a key factor in the success of a low-code cloud-native platform. This is because sophisticated modeling is needed to build a solid foundation for effective collaboration between developers and business users.
A low-code cloud-native platform with sophisticated modeling can help developers work on projects faster and more efficiently while allowing business users to customize the system as needed.
3. Simplified Hybrid Cloud Management
Low-code cloud-native platforms are designed to be easy to deploy in any environment, but they’re also designed to make it easier to manage multiple environments. Complex environments require cloud-native platforms that simplify hybrid cloud management.
The best platforms have intuitive dashboards that let you easily see how everything works together, who’s using what resources, and when, where, and what needs to be fixed when things go wrong.
4. No Lock-in
A cloud-native platform should be designed to be both open and flexible, with no lock-in to specific vendors or technologies. The concept is indeed simple; however, many companies do not fully pay heed to its significance.
No Lock-in means you can change vendors anytime without having to rewrite your application or start from scratch. It also means that you can switch between different types of technology without having to refactor your codebase or retrain your employees on new skill sets.
5. Developer Tools and Out-of-Box Experience
One of the primary factors in the success of a low-code cloud-native platform is the available developer tools. Cloud-native platforms need to be able to provide the necessary tools for developers to be able to build their applications with ease. These tools should include auto-generated APIs and SDKs, as well as an intuitive interface that allows developers to see how their code will be executed on different devices or environments. It is also important that these tools are designed so that they can easily be extended so that new features can be added without needing to start from scratch every time.
Out-of-box experience refers to how easily developers can build an app: does the platform provide them with pre-made templates? Is there a user interface for them to navigate through? Does it have its IDE? Is there a UI library for building apps? If these things are not easily accessible or present on the platform, then developers will not find it appealing enough for them to want to use it.
Conclusion
Low-code cloud-native development is an excellent way for developers to quickly get started on new projects and use existing code as much as possible. This also allows for less code to be written, which reduces the risk of errors in the project.
Altogether, the low-code approach allows developers to focus on the most critical elements of the application while leaving out the parts that are not needed. Interested in learning more about low-code cloud-native development? Get in touch with us today!