Native cloud application development is emerging as a key differentiator that allows organisations to build applications rapidly, securely and use them in more modular and powerful ways. This approach leverages cutting-edge technologies like AI, AI Agents, automation and the Internet of Things (IoT). However, without a focused strategy and good engineering standards, its transformative potential can easily be lost.
Typical way
Manual software development tasks that add time for completing each iteration of user story grooming, test case creation, test execution and so on.
Lack of insight into consumer and employee sentiment can lead to poor app adoption and use, and diminished business performance.
Apps that are developed in silos without sufficient consumer and stakeholder input and feedback.
Lack of metrics, observability and alignment with business, engineering and operations outcomes — making it difficult to measure return on investment (ROI).
An inability to iterate quickly and introduce new features. An accumulation of technical debt that can stymie development and environment management.
Inadequate testing and validation. This can lead to low-quality apps and a high defect rate.
A better way
Leveraging generative AI for software development and automation to help increase speed and quality.
A human-centric approach based on personas, customer journeys and sentiment to help prioritise desired features and functionality.
Agile and collaborative delivery with continuous customer and stakeholder feedback.
An ability to define, measure, track and align business outcomes — and ROI — through powerful metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs).
A balanced approach that can allocate resources based on a sustainable and scalable development process.
A ‘shift-left’ strategy that can promote quality early in builds. Rigorous testing cycles that can improve standards, including shifting left on observability into testing environments to validate you are measuring the right metrics.
A better way: in detail
Cloud native app development isn’t only about getting faster and shifting left, but also about unlocking quantitative gains. A human-centric approach can help organisations tune into consumer sentiment, map personas to customer journeys and leverage technologies — tech-enabled solutions, automations, generative AI and other digital systems — that can establish a continuous feedback loop.
This advanced software development life cycle approach lowers total cost of ownership, total cost of change, reduces errors and code vulnerabilities, enhances operational efficiency and provides a launch pad for innovation. It can help eradicate the need for constant fixes and updates that do not add value. It can also reduce backlogs that can undermine app performance and stifle innovation.
What does a better way look like? There are five critical types of cloud native application development:
Full stack app development. This type of app development applies a unified approach to mobile apps, web apps, the backend and delivery pipelines. It includes microservices, application programming interfaces (APIs), and data ingestion flows that support agile and flexible development as well as app performance.
Experience engineering. In this kind of app development, teams can work faster and better through low-code app development, design templates with predefined themes, industry leading open-source solutions, and a content management system (CMS) that can keep digital media orderly and simplify its use.
Cloud custom app development. For custom app development, you should have components in the cloud and a system of record, which serves as an information storage and retrieval system. This framework makes it possible to develop custom code for specific functionality that isn’t built into cloud native services.
Business app custom components development. In developing components, teams can generate the custom code to extend and augment business apps and create more elegant, useful and user-friendly software and solutions. They also can add new features more easily.
Emerging tech app development. Here an organisation can tap AI, IoT, blockchain, robotics and other solutions — and build more advanced functionality into operations and apps.
A focused strategy
This evolved model doesn’t just happen. With a clear strategy in place, it’s possible to build out cloud infrastructure and workflows that lead to better outcomes and measurable ROI within weeks. It requires a rewiring of technology, a rethinking of processes and a recalibration of culture components.
Organisations that negotiate this space successfully can be equipped for both short-term and long-term gains. Instead of layering on additional hardware and software that introduces choke points and limited gains, they can build out a process that unlocks innovation and strategic value.
These businesses are often equipped to deal with uncertainty and changing conditions. They can pivot quickly and effectively to the next new thing — and know that app development is on track.
