Cloud-native: What Is It, and Why Should You Adopt It?
The "cloud-native" refers to an approach for designing and running applications that takes full advantage of the cloud’s capabilities. It is not simply a matter of hosting an application on a remote infrastructure; the environment must also enable automated deployment, adapt resources, and ensure the application’s long-term operation.
Microservices and containers are part of this approach. But once the applications have been developed, you still need a platform capable of orchestrating them, securing them, and ensuring their availability.
This is precisely where a cloud provider like Scalair comes in: not to develop the applications, but to provide and operate the infrastructure and the platform services needed for them to function.
What is cloud-native architecture?
A cloud-native application often consists of several components or microservices that can be deployed and updated relatively independently.
Containers allow these components to be grouped together with the elements needed for their execution. APIs then facilitate communication between the various services.
This architecture provides flexibility, but it also creates a more distributed environment. For the company, the challenge is therefore not limited to producing containers: it must have a platform capable of running them reliably.
Kubernetes: Orchestrating Cloud-Native Applications
As the number of containers increases, managing them manually quickly becomes complex. Kubernetes (K8s) addresses this challenge by orchestrating their execution.
In particular, it enables you to manage deployments, allocate the necessary resources, and keep services running when certain components encounter a problem. Cloud-native platforms automate the provisioning and configuration of infrastructure based on application needs.
For an IT department, the challenge is therefore to have a Kubernetes or PaaS platform that is properly scaled and operated, without having to manage the full complexity of the underlying infrastructure on its own.
Availability and Observability: Maintaining Control of the Platform
A distributed architecture must remain observable and available.
In a Kubernetes environment, containers are dynamic: they can be created, moved, or stopped as needed. TheObservability enables us to understand what is happening on the platform, primarily through metrics, logs, and event tracking.
It makes it easier to detect anomalies and monitor performance in architectures where many services interact.
Availability also depends on the hosting architecture and the resilience mechanisms in place. In particular, Scalair operates a multi-datacenter infrastructure in France to address the challenges of service continuity.
Cloud-Native and Security: Protecting a Larger Attack Surface
The proliferation of containers, APIs, and components increases the number of elements that need to be monitored and secured.
The platform must therefore incorporate security from the design phase onward: access control, segmentation, authentication, rights management, monitoring, and ensuring the Kubernetes environments.
For the CISO, the challenge is therefore to take advantage of the agility of cloud-native technology while maintaining a controlled and monitored platform.
Should all applications be made cloud-native?
No. In an industrial mid-sized company, legacy ERP, MES, or line-of-business applications cannot always be transformed quickly—and that is not necessarily desirable.
A gradual, hybrid modernization may be more appropriate: keeping certain applications in their current environment while deploying new cloud-native services or components on a dedicated platform.
The goal, therefore, is not to become “100% cloud-native,” but to determine where this approach truly adds value.
Reversibility and Sovereignty: Avoiding Excessive Dependence
A cloud-native strategy must also take vendor lock-in into account. Using open, widely adopted technologies such as containers and Kubernetes promotes workload portability and reduces the risk of vendor lock-in.
This pursuit of reversibility may be accompanied by a challenge to sovereignty. Scalair operates a French cloud and managed services, with infrastructure hosted in France.
How Can We Move Toward Cloud-Native?
Cloud-native is therefore not just about transforming applications. It also requires a platform capable of host, orchestrate, secure, monitor, and ensure their availability.
Application teams remain focused on their software; the cloud provider manages the platform on which it runs.
Would you like to have a PaaS or Kubernetes platform tailored to your applications, without having to handle the operational complexity on your own? Talk to the experts at Scalair to explore a managed, secure cloud infrastructure that meets your specific requirements.
