Initially, Cloud Management Platform (CMP) software was designed for managing virtual machine (VM) and infrastructure-centric capabilities (IaaS). But applications have always driven infrastructure and considering today’s complex business requirements, there is a seachange in application architecture. Microservices and cloud-native applications based on container technology coupled with DevOps methodology is dramatically changing this landscape. Today, digital businesses have to be able to deliver features, services and solutions faster than ever before in order to effectively compete, all while maintaining both high quality and rich user experiences.
To support the realities of today’s business landscape, the next generation of CMPs is emerging. These CMPs will be able to manage cloud-native and microservice-based application architectures, while also providing an expanded portfolio of functionality that facilitates DevOps processes and methodology. With the increase in the number of components comprising an application and the demands of real-time agility, for next-generation CMPs, easy to consume automation is a necessity, as is centralized and transparent multi-cloud management viewing infrastructure through the lens of application services.
Below are some the key benefits businesses stand to realize after implementing next-generation CMP software solutions alongside microservices based applications and DevOps:
1. Continuous QA
Shipping software updates more frequently means more (and almost continuous) testing – and doing so much earlier in the development cycle. It means thorough unit testing of any change, then sandbox testing of the system with the new change. Both are critical. Test early and often, when errors are more easily diagnosed and repaired. Automation is also critical so manual errors don’t creep in and it makes it easier for developers to avoid getting lazy and skipping steps.
2. Integrated Security and Compliance
With most businesses operating several (or more) public cloud solutions in production at any given time and increasingly using developer-driven DevOps methodology, security coupled with IT governance has never been more critical. Thankfully, CMPs are designed to help with security and compliance by automatically and non-intruisively enforcing both standardized configurations and templates, and applying policy-based governance to workloads. CMPs also offer regularly updated security requirements for component levels and images, and can automatically deploy these requirements, thereby removing the need for any manual provisioning and boosting the agility of development teams.
3. Continuous, Shift-Left Performance
Performance means user experience. In today’s world, customer’s care about user experience first and foremost. If a change makes the system slower or less responsive, that needs to be detected as early as possible before it’s deeply embedded in the architecture or even worse in live deployment and causing you to lose customers. Fully embracing DevOps means evaluating performance of the system earlier during the testing phases and addressing problems early in the development cycle.
4. Microservices and Containers
Containers are a key building block for developing cloud-native applications or microservices, as they serve as an envelope for frictionless application portability. Microservices have a natural synergy with containers as they break applications up into a set of discrete pieces, implementing one function and then scaling each function independently. The more component parts to an application, the greater the need tor abstraction and automation. When CMPs fully embrace microservices, they can ease this path and allow development teams to innovate and deliver functionality faster, as separate development teams can build and deploy each microservice independently of others, as well as ease friction with operations teams.
5. Automated Staging to Production
Another link in the chain where errors can creep in is when moving from production to live deployment. Many shops still perform this manually and that is exactly where human error can creep in, such as in last year’s AWS S3 outage. Fully embracing DevOps means automating the move from staging to production and the various flavors of blue/green roll forward and back.
6. DevOps Methodology
The iterative nature of DevOps can be game-changing, as it enables businesses to deliver services faster and with higher quality. DevOps embraces a close collaboration between contributing software developers, quality assurance (QA) and IT operations staff, and encourages a continuous, technological flow. This can lead to shorter release cycles, faster time-to-market for valuable new capabilities, less intrusive upgrades, higher software quality and better user experiences. Well-designed CMPs can facilitate and help traverse the technical and cultural impediments to DevOps deployments in areas such as QA or performance evaluations before impacting end-users, and they can also assist with automating staging to production roll-outs.
7. Leading to Easier adoption of Both DevOps & Microservices
CMP 1.0 arose to fill gaps in a then seachange technology (virtualization) so customers could achieve the benefits/value/justification with less heavy lifting. Similarly, CMP 2.0s will fill gaps in the next seachange technologies used in cloud-native applications so customers can achieve the benefits/value/justification more easily. A successful CMP 2.0 must manage both IaaS as well as the next generation of cloud applications.
In order to thrive in today’s highly competitive, innovative market, businesses need to match or exceed their competitors in bringing capabilities to market quickly, with high quality and great user experience. They need to be able to respond to changing market realities in a flash, issuing releases on a near daily or weekly basis. They also need to be able to experiment and test new features or services to ensure high quality user experiences without impacting their customers.
Perhaps most importantly though, businesses need to achieve this expertise without spending a fortune (i.e. they can’t hire a football team’s worth of additional developers). The key, then, is to leverage the next generation of CMPs that incorporate automation, orchestration and governance to manage the increasing complexity of hybrid cloud environments. By implementing such a solution that fully supports both traditional and next-generation cloud-native modes, businesses will be able to deliver services faster, with better user experiences and at a higher quality, all while saving money.
