Make the shift: why cloud-native modernization matters

For any organization that’s on the road to digital transformation, the significance of cloud-native modernization and management cannot be overstated.

However, they have to understand exactly what they will gain from building, deploying and managing applications in the cloud, as well as the overarching drivers of this transformation.

How cloud-native modernization can benefit you

While the concept of going cloud-native has in many ways become synonymous with the public cloud, it actually refers to updating an application to work in the cloud – but it could run at the edge just as well, for instance. The difference is that the public cloud delivers economies of scale along with faster application development and deployment.

Cloud-native modernization is driven by a set of business goals that will improve the overall performance, efficiency and security of your organization:

• Stronger business performance: Cloud-native architectures enable modular development and deployment, leading to increased agility because teams can release updates more frequently and respond quickly to changing business needs.
• Lower total cost of ownership: Cloud migration and application modernization typically lead to savings by eliminating operational overhead and resource inefficiencies – leaving you more budget to invest in innovation.
• Improved security posture: Legacy applications can pose considerable security challenges and compliance risks. With security and risk management built into their core, cloud-native services enhance security by reducing the attack surface and providing multiple robust layers of protection from the cloud provider to the application code.

Comprehensive observability, monitoring and analysis across the entire stack enables you to optimize and safeguard your cloud environment, network and applications.

• ALSO READ → 5 reasons why cloud transformation is key to cloud success

Recognize the value of legacy systems

One of the first steps in assessing the readiness for cloud-native modernization and management is identifying legacy systems and their impact on your organization.

“Legacy” does not necessarily mean “old”; it also refers to technologies or applications that have been surpassed by more advanced versions even. Although their core functionality remains relevant, they may need to be moved to a different platform that offers better support.

Your strategy must therefore consider how to bridge the gap between legacy systems and cloud-native microservices for a smooth transition and seamless integration.

Signs your organization needs cloud-native modernization

Application performance issues and downtime are two strong indicators that your organization is ready for cloud-native modernization.

Are application slowdowns frequent, especially during peak usage periods, when demand is high? Do you experience extended downtime when resolving application issues, particularly in monolithic systems, or restarting an application?

Cloud-native transformation can make these applications more resilient and reduce the impact on your customers – and business.

Cloud-native modernization also speeds up digital transformation. Your business applications are directly linked to your business transformation, scalability, cost savings, competitiveness, speed and elasticity.  So, where do you start?

The answer will depend on where you are on your digital transformation journey.  For example:

• If you’ve already moved applications to an Azure or Amazon Web Services cloud platform, you may want prioritize scalability and speed improvements.
• If you have many legacy applications and the original developers have left the organization, or application support has become problematic because the programming framework is end of life, your main goal might be business transformation and modernization.
• Cost savings are a near-universal goal for organizations. Evaluate your competitive posture – is more needed now or down the line? 

What you gain along the way

Apart from benefits like tighter security, cloud-native modernization and management also present other valuable opportunities to your organization. These include:

1. Speed to market: Get new releases to market faster, as you no longer need weeks to test and release a new version of an application before it can even be deployed. Once you’ve gone cloud-native, your application release and maintenance schedules become faster and easier.
2. Customer engagement: Retain and expand your customer base by enhancing the speed, quality and value of your digital customer interactions.
3. Talent recruitment and retention: Attract and retain talent by adopting modern, cloud-native approaches to problem-solving and fostering innovative workstreams.
4. Data management: Better manage, access and secure data derived from analytics, machine learning and AI. Even when you opt for using stateless cloud-native applications – which don’t retain state data between client requests – your data must remain top of mind: what types of data are involved? Where does it reside? Are there any data management challenges to overcome?
5. Innovation: Beyond enabling advances in data management, cloud-native modernization also lays the foundation for innovation through developing technologies such as IoT, blockchain and 5G – supported by continuous integration and deployment cycles, serverless computing and the managed services offered by cloud providers.
6. Environmental responsibility: Reduce your environmental footprint by following sustainable API and DevSecOps approaches for energy-efficient operations. Moving to the public cloud also shifts some of your carbon footprint to a hyperscaler.

Choosing which of these opportunities to pursue in more depth will depend on your organization's specific needs and the stage of your cloud journey.

• ALSO READ → 8 essential ingredients of successful cloud-native modernization

Make the commitment

To realize the full benefits of cloud-native modernization you need a top-down organizational commitment and a culture shift – neither of which is instant (or effortless). It can take time to put your organization on track for cloud success.

This means you have to commit fully to cloud-native and make the necessary changes throughout your organization. This may cause some trepidation, but working with a managed service partner (MSP) is a reliable way of avoiding pitfalls as you go.

An MSP will work with your organization to identify where you’re seeing the most application slowdowns and outages, where cloud-native technologies can make the biggest difference and, importantly, how your business processes will need to change too.

Why NTT DATA should be your cloud-native partner

NTT DATA is a one-stop shop for cloud-native modernization because our suite of services covers the spectrum of cloud-related requirements: data, platforms, hyperscalers, network infrastructure, security, technology lifecycle services and more.

We have more than 4,200 experts across five continents who can help to streamline your cloud-native transformation so you enjoy an efficient and secure transition with minimal business interruptions.

To thrive in the digital age, cloud-native modernization and management need to be high on your agenda – and you can get there fast and efficiently with a knowledgeable partner like NTT DATA.