Executive Focus: Cloud Native Computing on Azure

• “Cloud native” application architectures take advantage of the unique features of cloud computing to improve performance, reduce operating costs, and speed application development and enhancement.
• Organizations adopting Azure should consider adopting cloud native architectures deployed on its container, orchestration, and serverless technologies.
• Existing applications will usually require refactoring to go cloud native, offsetting many cost savings.

Many organizations have thought of the cloud as an extension to or replacement for their data centers. As such, their use of Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) has mimicked on-premises application architectures and operations, relocating applications and the virtual machines (VMs) running them to the cloud with little modification. Although this approach can lead to some cost savings and other efficiencies, often it does not. Instead, organizations should consider selectively migrating applications and databases to newer architectures, called “cloud native,” which can best leverage the cloud’s inherent elasticity, resilience, distribution, and manageability. Azure provides multiple technologies to run cloud native applications, but organizations will need to choose the right applications for the new model and expect to change their own IT practices and policies.