DEVOPSdigest

Today, organizations must digitally evolve or they risk becoming irrelevant. One area that’s been growing in adoption is a shift to developing and deploying modern applications in the cloud, which requires software and IT architects to rethink how to architect and manage these apps.

To help organizations of all sizes understand what it means to run and secure apps in the cloud, Sumo Logic recently released its State of Modern Applications in the Cloud report, providing unique data-driven insights, best practices and emerging trends by analyzing technology adoption within the application stack.

The report delives visibility into how some of the world’s leading-edge companies are building, managing and using their data on cloud platforms like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform.

There were five key trends that stood out from the data that are worth exploring:

1. Linux is quickly becoming a homogenous OS

Report findings show Linux is still the dominant operating system in AWS at nearly 80 percent, which goes without saying. However, an interesting point here is that in the last nine months, Linux usage in Azure grew from four to 16 percent, which is around a 300 percent increase.

What this indicates is that Linux has become a reasonable choice in any cloud platform, from AWS to Azure, and hopefully to others in the future as well. Does this also signify the slow decline of Windows? Time will tell.

2. Containers are still a fan fave

In fact, according to the results, Docker adoption in AWS grew from 18 to 25 percent in just nine months. Now almost one in four customers are using Docker in production application/s, which means that many customers are using Docker (and microservices) to build their apps.

3. Serverless functions are the ultimate IT nirvana

AWS Lambda adoption has almost doubled from 12 percent in 2016 to 23 percent in 2017. The whole idea of serverless is that it moves the idea of microservices into the future by entirely skipping over containers and DevOps.

This is still a brand new function and while it’s gaining in adoption, most organizations are only using it for a small part of the application process by integrating to a third-party or other deployment-related activities. However, the fact that one in four are already using it sends a strong message to anyone who follows the arc of application architecture and adoption. IT leaders are already talking about DevOps, but serverless takes IT to an entirely new world – NoOps – where applications magically run without an infrastructure.

4. NoSQL databases overtake relational databases in the cloud

MySQL is the number one database running in AWS, along with Redis and MongoDB, and accounts for 40 percent of database adoption.

However, legacy vendors, such as Microsoft SQL and Oracle DB, significantly lag in terms of usage in AWS and are only adopted by a combined six percent of customers.The challenge for the traditional vendors is figuring out how to remain relevant against newer, more progressive cloud-based databases. The verdict is still out as to whether or not they’ll be able to do it fast enough.

5. Security is important as companies migrate/build apps in cloud

Not surprisingly, security remains a top concern for enterprises moving to the cloud as their legacy on premise security/SIEM tools are insufficient.

While most of the major cloud platforms offer foundational security technologies, the results showed that organizations simply aren’t taking advantage of them. For example, only 50 percent of enterprises are leveraging CloudTrail, the primary security audit for AWS.

High-profile security breaches and malware attacks like Equifax and WannaCry are the new norm, which is why security must be top of mind for every CIO, CISO and CEO. Security must start from the ground up, which is why using some of these foundational tools is crucial. We have to use everything in our arsenal to protect consumer data.

If you are even remotely connected to IT today, you know that the cloud has changed everything. There’s a massive market shift toward not just cloud, but also mobile, that is forcing IT teams to focus on speed and agility more than ever. Enterprises need to understand the challenges as well as the benefits of being a true digital business, and fully embrace it.

Methodology:The report was based on active and anonymized data from more than 1,500 customers using Sumo Logic’s platform.