Introduction

By combining different cloud systems or connecting a cloud node with a private network, companies can develop solution architectures that give them all the benefits of clouds and allow them to scale applications without being tied down to one cloud vendor, which also ensures reliability and overall robustness.

TechWorks is a start-up company dedicated to leveraging innovative technologies as part of its repeatable business model and as a growth facilitator. Their vision is to develop next-generation secure, supersociety intelligent autonomous solutions. To achieve this, TechWorks needs a solution architecture that aligns with its goals while staying within budget.

The company faces a choice between building and maintaining a local computing environment or utilizing third-party cloud services. Setting up a local environment requires a substantial initial investment dedicated to building and maintaining infrastructure. This option, while providing full access to develop, scale, and monitor their applications, was deemed too costly for TechWorks.

Instead, TechWorks opted for a third-party cloud system to deploy and maintain their applications. By utilizing a cloud architecture, TechWorks benefits from virtual capabilities such as storage, networking, and computing without the heavy up-front costs. This approach helps TechWorks save on development costs while maintaining flexibility and scalability.

However, cloud-based solutions come with trade-offs, including limited access and control over the provider's infrastructure, which may introduce vulnerabilities and dependencies. TechWorks needs to address several critical questions: How will they manage their budget to ensure effective application deployment and maintenance? How will they handle rapid growth in customer data traffic? What strategies will they employ to respond to data breaches and system maintenance?

Before the widespread adoption of cloud computing, many large companies such as Samsung and IBM relied on extensive physical infrastructures, including multiple self-developed data centers. The advent of cloud technologies has transformed this landscape, enabling the virtualization of resources and presenting opportunities for companies to transition to cloud environments or hybrid models that combine cloud and physical servers.

For new tech businesses without access to expensive local IT infrastructure, relying entirely on cloud resources is a common strategy. Choosing a well-designed cloud architecture is crucial for long-term cost savings, flexibility, scalability, and agility. Additionally, a secure cloud architecture can help mitigate potential cyber threats.

For instance, relying on a single cloud infrastructure for development, servicing, and deployment exposes companies to significant risks in the event of a data breach. TechWorks decided to adopt a multicloud architecture, distributing responsibilities across different cloud systems for application communications, customer services, access control, and resource management. This approach enhances security and reduces dependency on a single provider.

The previous chapter focused on cloud-native applications that leverage microservices-based architectures. In that case, individual workloads are implemented as services that may or may not reside on the cloud. In this chapter, we will explore how various cloud-based architectures are developed by combining specific infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS) capabilities and computing environments to accelerate the delivery of desired functionalities and benefits. We will also examine how TechWorks, as a start-up, evaluates and implements cloud architectures to build solutions that meet their needs. Through examples utilizing cloud-based PaaS, such as IoT frameworks for temperature data collection and machine learning services for predictive analysis, we will demonstrate the profound impact of cloud deployment and workload implementation strategies on operational excellence and competitive advantage.