The Problem with Monoliths
A monolithic application packages all functionality — authentication, business logic, database access, UI — into a single deployable unit. This works fine at small scale, but as the application grows, a bug in one module can crash the entire system, scaling requires duplicating the whole app, and deployments are slow and risky.
What Cloud-Native Means
Cloud-native is an approach to building software that fully exploits cloud infrastructure:
- Microservices: Break the app into small, independently deployable services
- Containers: Package each service in Docker for consistent deployment
- Orchestration: Use Kubernetes to manage, scale, and recover services automatically
- CI/CD: Automate builds and deployments
The Migration Path
The strangler fig pattern works best: identify the most painful bottleneck in the monolith, extract it into a standalone microservice, route traffic to the new service while keeping the monolith intact, then repeat.
Why Indian IT Companies Excel Here
Cloud migration requires deep expertise in AWS, Azure, Docker, and Kubernetes — skills that Indian engineering teams have built over the past decade. The cost advantage is significant: a cloud migration engagement in India costs 40-60% less than equivalent US or European work.