Cloud-Native SaaS for Software Development

 While the cloud has become one of the most common approaches to networking for organizations as technology has evolved, reliance on legacy applications is no longer the same.

Cloud computing and SaaS solutions brought new hope for endless possibilities with many innovative directions. However, it has also raised many doubts. In general, cloud applications can be divided into two main parts – cloud-native and cloud-embedded.

Today’s blog will learn more about the term cloud-native and its landscape and identify the benefits and challenges.

Understanding cloud-native development and SaaS

To understand the proper definition of cloud-native SaaS, we have described the meaning of two important technical terms, such as software as a service (SaaS) and cloud-native development.

What is cloud-native development?

Cloud-native has become a modern approach to creating and deploying software applications with characteristics such as flexibility scalability of cloud computing. 

Today’s complex application scenario – with customers expecting continuous, seamless innovation with absolute responsiveness – requires business processes to be incredibly agile and strategic. Cloud-native solutions are designed to help enterprises move faster than ever before while being agile.

Leading cloud solutions providers provide the latest solutions to reduce operational challenges and accelerate application creation for developers. Overall, cloud solutions give developers an advantage by providing a comprehensive platform that helps build, deploy and process applications such as microservices and server functions.

 Software as a Service 

Software as a Service (SaaS) is a software licensing and delivery model that offers users centrally hosted software licensed on a subscription basis. Typically, SaaS users connect to the software through a browser over the Internet. Modern SaaS has the advantages of deployment, management, and customization.

As for cloud-native SaaS, it is designed and implemented as cloud-native applications. They consist of many independent services and are built using a hybrid architecture.

Four business benefits of cloud-native SaaS

The use of cloud technologies and tools has become widespread in mid-sized companies. But why is this happening? The rapid adoption of cloud technology is due to several business benefits. There is no need to work with software or manage scaling during peak periods with cloud SaaS. In addition, cloud SaaS solutions offer many benefits:

Scalability: Scalability in the cloud means managing increases or decreases in system requirements. This happens in horizontal (scaling in or out) and vertical (scaling up or down). For cloud-based SaaS, horizontal scaling works exceptionally well. It helps to keep all the data and functionality in containerized microservices, which leads to scaling parts of the application.

Customer-centricity: Cloud-native SaaS is the answer to customer-centricity as it becomes the industry norm. For example, organizations without a robust customer-centric business model can benefit from adopting cloud-native solutions to make consistent progress and maintain an edge over competitors. In addition, there are several competitive advantages, including customer analytics, campaign management, multiple mobile-focused applications, e-commerce, and more.

Speed and flexibility: Cloud-based solutions are installed quickly because they have specialized services and architecture for new systems. In addition, DevOps and agile, two methods of developing cloud solutions, allow cloud projects to move faster and eliminate bottlenecks in less time. In addition, the cloud initiates rapid business moves, offering virtually unlimited possibilities.

Automation: For cloud-based SaaS solutions, automation is a significant advantage. It allows you to create an application deployment infrastructure and deploy them in a more automated and organized way. It also allows you to automate several time-consuming tasks and processes, freeing up IT time, on-premises infrastructure, and budget.

Advantages of Cloud-Native over on-premises architectures. on-premises architectures

Cloud-native development requires an entirely different architecture than traditional enterprise applications in on-premises data centers. Here are some key differences and advantages that cloud-native offers over traditional application development models

Upgradability – On-premises applications are typically updated once or twice a year using a waterfall methodology, while cloud-native applications are built to be updated regularly. The updatability of cloud-native solutions enables engineering teams to devote time and effort to developing new features more frequently than before.

Multitenancy – Any cloud-native application runs seamlessly in the virtual space and shares resources with other applications using the multi tenancy model. This certainly increases the productivity of engineering teams.

Languages – In general, on-premises applications are usually written in traditional languages such as Java, C++, and C#. However, cloud-native applications are written in web-centric languages such as CSS, .NET, Ruby, Node.js, PHP, HTML, and Python. 

Stateless – All cloud applications are stateless, which means they do not retain data from previous sessions. This feature makes it easy to scale applications across servers while using less memory and avoiding vendor lock-in because they are not tied to one specific server.

Why Cloud-native will win in the SaaS landscape

Despite the ability to move data operations and traditional applications to the cloud, some SaaS vendors have benefited from adopting a cloud-native approach. Here’s why cloud-native is taking over the SaaS world.

However, once you move to the SaaS cloud, relying on this approach is risky because needs may change, and a different approach will be needed to meet your storage needs. So instead, the cloud allows for AWS S3 or ADLS – object storage services that can be purchased, sequenced, and used separately without any computing requirements. This separation will help companies avoid any major crises and mishaps.

A better understanding of cloud solution offerings is critical to deciding if you need it for long-term growth. Contact us today to learn more about how and why you should consider cloud-native solutions.