Why the Difference Between Cloud-Native & Cloud-Hosted Matters to Your Business

What Does It Mean to Be Cloud-Native?

Cloud-native applications are created in the cloud, utilizing the full power of cloud architecture to transcend traditional application restrictions. Rather than adapting legacy software for a new environment, cloud-native apps are architected specifically to scale, self-heal, and update continuously without disrupting the people using them. Cloud-native applications enable organizations to lower maintenance costs, enhance scalability, and improve workflow collaboration.

What Does It Mean to Be Cloud-Hosted?

Cloud-hosted applications are traditional applications that have been migrated to the cloud but are not redesigned to take advantage of it. Think of it as moving a gas-powered engine into an electric car chassis – the infrastructure changed, but the underlying mechanics didn’t. The result is software that carries forward the same limitations it always had, namely version conflicts, manual updates, and siloed data.

Why Understanding “Cloud” Terms Matters

With the adoption of the cloud comes even more confusing jargon to sort through.

Among these sets of new terms are cloud-native and cloud-hosted. In fact, cloud-native applications have granted organizations a significant competitive advantage over their cloud-hosted counterparts, empowering organizations to run dynamic and scalable applications with improved workflow productivity.

But what does it mean to be “cloud-native” and “cloud-hosted”? And why should you care?

Most people seem to be at a complete loss when it comes to describing the cloud. Some people point to the fluffy, white puffs dotted throughout the sky. (And before you ask, yes, that technically is a cloud.)

However, the cloud we’re referring to isn’t a cloud in the natural sense. Simply put, the “cloud” is a term used to refer to internet-accessible computer system resources, such as servers, databases, and software.

Instead of storing data on your computer’s hard drive, users can now conveniently store and access their data at any time and on any device via the cloud. In every sense of the word, the cloud is revolutionary; cloud computing has changed the way in which we access, store, and share information for many years to come.

Consequently, many programs have sought to modernize their software by adopting some of the principles of cloud technology, but with varying results. Never has this point been clearer than with cloud-native and cloud-hosted applications. Not all applications are created equal, and here’s why.

5 Ways Cloud-Native Applications
Outperform Cloud-Hosted Applications

1. Speed and Accessibility

We’ve all been there: Glaring angrily at our computer screens as the newest software/hardware update downloads onto our computers. In the time that it takes for an update to completely download and run the application, we could all make ourselves a sandwich, eat it, and still be waiting for the application to open.

Say goodbye to wasted time. The cloud-native model is built for speed and agility. No longer bound to the constrictions of proprietary desktop apps, cloud-native has streamlined the path-to-production pipeline by allowing users to access software entirely from a browser. The faster turnaround of production actively encourages users to worry less about encountering hardware or operating system compatibility issues and focus more on what truly matters: Bringing business ideas to fruition.

2. セキュリティ

Cloud-hosted applications are not designed for the exposure users have while running in the cloud. Due in part to the architectural foundation of cloud-hosted applications, they are not able to adapt to evolving security threats and are not designed to compartmentalize data.

On the other side of the coin, cloud-native applications are designed to utilize the full scalability of the cloud. Leveraging the full capabilities of the native cloud infrastructure, applications are designed with multiple layers of security and continuous monitoring for weaknesses (e.g., continuous deployment, auto-scaling, auto-management, reoccurring updates, etc.).

Cloud-native architecture embraces horizontal scaling, which allows for the division of an application into smaller independent parts “with each part having its own realm of responsibility.”

The hands-off approach for monitoring and managing the cloud-native infrastructure allows developers to allocate a greater amount of time to creating and optimizing other valuable business tools.

3. Scalability and Performance

Most cloud-hosted applications rely on traditional monolith services. Monolith services are single-tiered software applications where all the components are packaged into a single unit consisting of three parts: a database, a client-side user interface, and a server-side application.

In fact, the overwhelming size of a monolithic architecture application can make it difficult to manage, increase the start-up and deployment time of the application, and a single bug in a module can result in having to redeploy the entire application.

In comparison, cloud-native’s horizontal scaling allows for the segmentation of a single application into smaller functional components. Each part is self-contained, independently managed, and significantly reduces overhead for developers. Far gone are the days when end-users would be impacted by the day-to-day interactions of infrastructure optimization; horizontal scaling has essentially eliminated that issue.

4. Updates and Maintenance

Cloud-hosted applications, which are considered “on-premise” software hosted on a server, simply can’t compete in terms of speed, elasticity, and performance.

Time is money. Cloud-native applications are designed with a high degree of automation. Less time spent doing development tasks, running tests, and provisioning updates aids developers and significantly improves productivity.

On the other side of the coin, horizontal scaling allows end-users to take full advantage of the elasticity of the cloud by scaling their application (i.e., CPU, memory, and storage) depending on the needs of its users.

5. Collaboration and Data Integrity

Cloud-hosted applications use multiple silos of data, allowing for version incompatibilities and preventing users from collaborating in real time. Users must then wait for their coworkers to finish their work on a design file before completing it themselves. Not only is this method incredibly slow, but it’s also archaic. This outdated approach to data management not only reduces productivity but also causes frequent software incompatibility and version-control issues.

For designers and engineers under a project deadline, this concept is a major roadblock to completing their tasks on time.

Cloud-native applications utilize a single source of truth for data, allowing multiple designers and engineers to work simultaneously without the risk of managing multiple versions of the same design document.

Making the Right Choice for Your Team

The distinction between cloud-native and cloud-hosted is technical but also has real consequences for how your team works day to day. Slower updates, security gaps, collaboration friction, and performance ceilings are all symptoms of software that wasn't built for the cloud, even if it lives there.

Tools like PTC’s Onshape are built cloud-native from the ground up, which is why they're able to deliver browser-based access, real-time collaboration, and continuous updates without the overhead that traditional CAD tools carry.

If your team is evaluating product development software, it’s worth asking not just whether a tool is “in the cloud,” but whether it was built for it.

(This blog was originally published March 31, 2022.)