Cloud computing has revolutionized application development processes. Just the commercial payback from cloud app development is so compelling that organizations cannot ignore this approach anymore. Cloud platforms from Google, Amazon Web Services, SalesForce, and others have evolved over the last few years, and we can understand their power by reviewing a set of key development metrics.
Here are 5 top reasons why developers should choose app development on the cloud:
- Provisioning. Gone are the days when developers had to wait for hardware and software infrastructure for the development and test environment to be ready. With cloud app development, the DevOps environment can be provisioned at the click of a button.
- Cycle time. Closely linked to provisioning is the cycle time required to bring applications into production mode. Thanks to simplified provisioning, the cycle time to get into production mode is significantly reduced. According to the Evans Data Cloud Development Survey, developers cited a savings of 10% to 30% on cycle times when adopting the cloud for their development initiatives.
- Scaling. Apps developed and deployed; but you now have to scale for large scale adoption in the user community. Seems a big task? No problem. Just as how provisioning was simplified on the cloud, scaling is also possible at the click of a button.
- Cloud app development enables the collaboration of distributed team comprising of architects, system designers, and developers.
- Cost savings. According to the Evans Data Cloud Development Survey, developers cited a cost savings of cloud app development to be anything between 10% at the lower end, and 20% at the higher end.
Cloud computing presents multiple categories of app development environments that an organization can use to meet the needs of their enterprise architecture. Many of these offerings solve specific problems, such as security-as-a-service or testing-as-a-service, and some provide complete platforms, such as platform-as-a-service or infrastructure-as-a-service. They all have trade-offs and different problems that each solves. The right cloud app development services partner can understand your specific business requirements, as that is critical while choosing the right cloud computing architectural components.
Enterprises can choose from any of the following cloud computing categories:
- Storage
- Database
- Information processing
- Application hosting
- Integration
- Security
- Management/governance
- Testing
- Physical infrastructure
Enterprises have the flexibility of viewing each of these areas in isolation, and choose a cloud computing offering based on their enterprise needs. As an alternative, all of these could be viewed holistically to deploy a complete, cloud based solution to meet their business needs.
Whether an enterprise chooses cloud app development services piecemeal or as a whole, the most prominent benefit is the CapEx-free nature of provisioning. This is especially a boon for SMBs, where upfront investments in infrastructure are not welcome, unless business imperatives demand such investments.
Last but not the least, adoption of cloud app development reduces the carbon footprint of the business. Businesses using cloud computing only use the server space they need, which decreases their carbon footprint. Using the cloud app development services, results in at least 30% less energy consumption and carbon emissions than using on-site servers.
And again, SMEs get the most benefit. For small companies, the cut in energy use and carbon emissions is likely to be 90%.
With a lot of positives, have you taken the advantage of cloud application development services that is gaining significant traction and momentum?