Cloud native refers to an approach to building and running applications that fully leverages the scalability, flexibility, and resilience of cloud computing. Cloud native applications are designed to thrive in dynamic environments like public, private, hybrid, and multi-cloud platforms. They are typically built using microservices, deployed in containers, orchestrated with tools like Kubernetes, and delivered through automated CI/CD pipelines.
The cloud native model empowers organizations to deliver software faster, scale efficiently, and recover from failure with minimal downtime.
What is cloud native?
Cloud native is not just a technology—it’s a methodology. It emphasizes using modern tools and practices to build distributed, loosely coupled systems that are optimized for cloud infrastructure.
Key characteristics of cloud native architecture include:
- Microservices: Applications are broken into small, independently deployable services
- Containers: Workloads are packaged with their dependencies to ensure consistent execution
- Service meshes: Manage secure communication between services
- Infrastructure as code (IaC): Infrastructure is provisioned and managed programmatically
- Orchestration: Platforms like Kubernetes manage container deployment, scaling, and availability
CI/CD pipelines: Continuous integration and deployment enable fast, reliable delivery
Cloud native systems are designed for rapid change, built-in observability, and automation at scale—making them ideal for organizations seeking to innovate without sacrificing reliability.
Why is cloud native important?
As organizations digitize more of their operations, speed and resilience have become competitive advantages. Cloud native technology provides both—by removing the constraints of legacy, monolithic systems and enabling agile development in distributed environments.
Cloud native is important because it enables:
- Faster software delivery: Small, modular updates can be released frequently with lower risk
- Greater scalability and elasticity: Applications can scale horizontally across clusters and cloud zones
- High availability and resilience: Workloads are fault-tolerant and automatically rescheduled if they fail
- Improved portability: Containers and open standards support consistency across cloud providers
- Stronger automation and DevOps alignment: CI/CD, GitOps, and IaC integrate seamlessly with cloud native workflows
Adopting cloud native practices allows teams to innovate more quickly and operate with greater efficiency, especially in fast-moving markets or highly competitive industries.
Key components of cloud native architecture
Cloud native applications rely on a layered set of technologies and workflows:
Containers and container orchestration
Containers provide the lightweight, portable runtime environments that are foundational to cloud native development. Kubernetes has become the de facto standard for container orchestration—handling scheduling, scaling, failover, and service discovery.
Microservices architecture
Cloud native systems decompose applications into independent services that can be developed, deployed, and scaled separately. This decoupling improves agility and fault isolation.
Infrastructure as code (IaC)
IaC tools like Terraform and AWS CloudFormation automate the provisioning of compute, storage, and networking—ensuring consistency across environments and simplifying rollbacks.
Continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD)
Automated CI/CD pipelines test, build, and deploy code continuously, minimizing human error and reducing time-to-value for new features or fixes.
Observability and monitoring
Cloud native platforms generate high volumes of telemetry data. Tools that capture logs, metrics, and traces help detect issues, maintain SLAs, and optimize performance.
DevSecOps integration
Security must be embedded into the development lifecycle—scanning code, containers, and configurations without slowing delivery.
Cloud-native challenges
Despite its benefits, cloud native adoption can introduce complexity and risk:
- Operational complexity: Managing distributed systems, clusters, and service meshes requires new skills and tooling
- Security risks: Misconfigurations, over-permissioned roles, vulnerable containers, and other cloud-native risks can create exploitable gaps
- Tool sprawl: The cloud native ecosystem is vast, and integrating too many tools can lead to fragmentation
- Cost control: Dynamically scaling workloads can lead to unpredictable cloud spend without proper governance
- Compliance alignment: Ensuring cloud native systems meet regulatory requirements requires continuous oversight
Organizations must balance innovation with governance, automation with visibility, and velocity with control.
How Orca Security helps
The Orca Cloud Security Platform delivers agentless, comprehensive security across cloud native environments—including AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, and Kubernetes. With Orca, organizations can:
- Detect misconfigurations, vulnerabilities, and other risks across cloud-native workloads, infrastructure, identities, and more
- Scan infrastructure as code (IaC) artifacts and CI/CD pipelines to catch issues before deployment
- Automate and accelerate cloud-native compliance with regulatory requirements and industry standards
- Analyze cloud-native risks holistically, prioritize risk detection, and leverage AI-Driven Remediation to address risks fast and easily
- Protect sensitive workloads with real-time runtime security that offers a lightweight alternative to heavyweight agent-based solutions
Orca helps organizations secure their cloud-native applications from code to runtime—without slowing innovation.
