Be your own master in the Cloud

If the physical infrastructure has undergone a radical process of transformation, however, virtualization is radically acting at the developers’ level. Old, monolithic applications give way to much lighter architectures, to languages and frameworks largely based on microservices which can be developed internally or reused through adequate programmable interfaces.

Not necessarily old-style applications are doomed to obsolescence in solitude. Several methodologies exist to transform old software, often by isolating their functional aspects and adapting the latter to the cloud fundamentals, to a service logic with a long history behind it. Ever heard about Service Oriented Applications?

On the other hand, you need some rules in order to fully embrace the philosophy underlying microservices, enjoying the real advantages of hardware and software virtualization.

Rule number one: as often as possible you need to rely upon standard tools and service platforms, to avoid the hidden risk of gradually slipping into a PaaS strategy-driven only by your cloud provider.

A multi-supplier strategy, however, offers maximum freedom only if the applications are 'autonomous', that is, they are built in such a way as to avoid any dependence.

A company very unbalanced on the PaaS front, must instead face and, as far as possible, prevent the risk of "vendor lock-in". The three big names in this sector offer high-impact services for all needs, from database to middleware, up to the most sophisticated serverless environments. But their bargaining strength is growing every day.

They can decide not only on infrastructural aspects like transaction pricing or uptime conditions: they’re going deeper and deeper into the realm of single functionalities, even the nature of the application content, as seen in the US in the wake of the January 6 events in Washington.