How to Evaluate a Cloud Native Application Platform: What to evaluate and consider

In order to evaluate a cloud native application platform, it is important to understand what to look for and the different aspects of architecture. There are many benefits to using a cloud native application platform, including the ability to scale applications and manage resources more effectively. When choosing a platform, it is important to consider features such as security and compliance, support for multiple programming languages and frameworks, and automated deployment and management.

Why Evaluate a Cloud Native Application Platform.

A cloud native application platform can offer many benefits to businesses, including the ability to quickly scale applications and improve resource utilization. In addition, a cloud native platform can provide support for multiple programming languages and frameworks, making it easier to develop and deploy applications. Finally, a cloud native platform can offer automated deployment and management features, making it easier to keep applications up-to-date.

How to Choose the Right Platform.

When choosing a cloud native application platform, businesses should consider their specific needs and requirements. Some factors that businesses should take into account include the type of workloads that need to be supported, the level of integration with existing systems, and the budget. I always tell customers I can’t protect what I don’t know or define. What are the plans for the organization in the three to five year horizons as far as acceleration of digital technologies? The platform should encompass at a high level the areas the following.

  • Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)
  • Kubernetes Security Posture Management (KSPM)
  • Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM)
  • Infrastructure as Code Scanning (SAST)
  • Cloud Workload Protection Platform (CWPP)-Can be agentless/agent-based
  • Cloud Service Network Security (CSNS) this essentially will be your WAF’s/API Protections

Evaluating Key Features.

When evaluating a cloud native application platform, it is important to consider the security and compliance features of the platform. The platform should provide a secure environment for applications to run in, with controls in place to prevent unauthorized access and data leakage. The platform should also support industry-standard compliance frameworks such as HIPAA, PCI DSS, and GDPR.

Support for Multiple Programming Languages and Frameworks.

The cloud native application platform should support a variety of programming languages and frameworks, so that developers can choose the best tool for the job at hand. The platform should also make it easy to deploy and manage applications written in different languages and frameworks.

Automated Deployment and Management.

The cloud native application platform should provide automation capabilities to help developers accelerate the application development process. Automated deployment and management features can help to improve application quality and reduce operational costs.

DevOps and Integration Features.

DevOps is a set of practices that helps organizations deliver software faster and more efficiently. A cloud native application platform should support DevOps practices such as continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD). The platform should also provide integration capabilities to connect applications with other systems or services.

Visibility

A constant challenge as you adopt more services is understanding the sprawl of the services as they can likely cross into multi-cloud you can onboard services into your Cloud Security Posture Management service such as Defender for Cloud can monitor AWS and Google Cloud Platform. Native services should have support for future plans to also include the plans for the future of your business objectives.

Conclusion

A cloud native application platform can offer many benefits to organizations, including the ability to scale applications and manage resources more effectively and securely. When evaluating a cloud native application platform, it is important to consider key features such as security, compliance, language support, and automation. The right platform can help organizations streamline development and operations processes, resulting in greater efficiency and productivity. Most organizations will likely have some form of these protections and its a challenge for them to come to unify the solutions without some level of customization. Achieve and orient your organization to holistic security strategies to unify your operations and not have knowledge gaps in this area as cloud is rapidly evolving.