Are you too late to go cloud native?

Post • 3 min read

Tl;dr – you’re never too late to choose a cloud native approach. No matter what stage of cloud maturity or digital transformation you’re at, it’s always possible to go cloud native – and there will always be benefits to adopting it.

Here’s why.

Automation is a simple (and essential) step

‘Cloud native’ can feel like an amorphous concept. Different people have different definitions, as you can see in this video about what cloud native means. But whether you focus on tech elements (like serverless, microservices and containers) and/or ways of working (agile, DevOps), there are common denominators:

  • Faster development
  • Lower running costs
  • Reusability
  • Scalability
  • Programmability

Automation drives all those elements, and it’s relatively quick and easy to get cloud native benefits in many areas. Here are some of the ways we’re helping companies integrate automation to drive a cloud-native journey:

  • Developing new cloud services: Automating elements of landing zone set-up and deployment, so dev teams can get into the fun stuff faster
  • Improving security and DR: Automated patching, back-ups and updates
  • Managing infrastructure: Automatic resource categorisation to eliminate time-consuming tagging processes
  • Optimising costs: Automating FinOps-related processes to streamline chargebacks
  • Bolstering governance: Automating elements of planning, provisioning and management within the Cloud Centre of Excellence 

These are just 5 examples, but all can be deployed quickly as POCs or within discrete use cases to help enable faster development, lower running costs, reusability, scalability and programmability.

Embracing multi-cloud drives cloud native at the edge

Being multi-cloud doesn’t automatically make you cloud native. But to achieve those 5 cloud-native elements above, you need to use the right cloud for the right job.

Hyperscalers have a wealth of native features you can start using immediately. These give you a high level of functionality out of the box, increasing your innovation speed. For example, we’ve recently helped a taxi company optimise fleet operations with GCP, and helped a mobile network operator automate all cloud infrastructure management.

Recognising the potential of multi-cloud also helps you drive cloud adoption among units and geographies moving at different paces. You can help them leverage a cloud-native approach so that they start feeling the benefits in their everyday lives. This greases the wheels of change management because you’re showing it’s worth it to try something new (rather than continuing with the same old ways of working).

New skills lead to new possibilities

It’s never too late to go cloud native because it’s never too late to teach people new skills. To stop people thinking of the cloud as a pay-as-you-go-data centre, they need to know how to wield the new superpowers at their disposal.

Use an upskilling toolkit like this to identify skills gaps and embed cloud skills. This approach helps people understand the art of the possible and gives them the ability and impetus to embrace automation, native features and a new operating model.

To sum up: Being cloud native is a process, not a big bang

Like digital transformation more generally, cloud native baby steps collectively make a big impact on outcomes. So don’t be daunted: just take that first step, whether it’s introducing automation, identifying native services or analysing cloud skills gaps you can fill.

And I may well be biased, but it helps to have a cloud-native partner helping you direct your focus areas. We can enable and empower you to get better results from a cloud-native approach than you’d otherwise get. So for help deciding on those first steps, get in touch.

CloudCloud

Get in Touch.

Let’s discuss how we can help with your cloud journey. Our experts are standing by to talk about your migration, modernisation, development and skills challenges.

Ilja Summala
Ilja Summala LinkedIn
CTO
Ilja’s passion and tech knowledge help customers transform how they manage infrastructure and develop apps in cloud.