How to Develop a Cloud Application: Step-by-Step Process with Practical Tips

When Dropbox launched in 2008 as a simple cloud-based file synchronization app, few predicted its meteoric rise. It leveraged the cloud’s innate flexibility and scalability and successfully tapped into surging demand for easy remote collaboration. The result? Growth from a small startup to over 700 million registered users today!

Dropbox’s incredible success shows the immense potential of cloud-native software. More and more organizations are recognizing this and accelerating cloud adoption. In 2022, companies spent a whopping 225 billion US dollars on cloud infrastructure services. Even Netflix uses Amazon Web Services for most of its computing and storage needs. 

Like Netflix, companies today can harness the power of the cloud to rapidly scale new innovations. In this comprehensive blog post, we will navigate through the fundamental principles, best practices, and key considerations that will help you develop a cloud application optimized for performance and scalability.

Cloud application development refers to creating and deploying software applications on remote, internet-accessible servers rather than on-premises servers inside a company’s own data center. Such applications have an edge over traditional applications that run on on-premises infrastructure as they can allow for easy scaling and user accessibility. 

Moreover, cloud applications are designed to be accessed by end users over the public internet through a browser or mobile app. They run on scalable commodity infrastructure provided by cloud platforms like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud.

Cloud applications represent a fundamental shift in software architecture and delivery. No longer constrained by traditional limitations around access, scalability, and flexibility, you can use on-demand infrastructure to develop a cloud application that is modular and customizable across devices and locations.

• Data storage in the cloud: Cloud-based applications store their data in the cloud infrastructure, with the possibility of caching some data on a user’s device for improved performance. This reduces the device requirements for running the application.
• Offline access with cloud syncing: Cloud-based applications can temporarily store information on a user’s device which enables offline access. When the device reconnects to the internet, the app syncs with the cloud storage, and updates and uploads generated data.
• Flexible data management: Users can configure backup schedules, data optimization, compression, and encryption according to their preferences, which enhances data security and efficiency.
• Device independence: Cloud applications can be accessed from any internet-connected device, including desktops, tablets, and mobile phones. This eliminates dependency on specific browser capabilities, enhancing accessibility.
• Integration with third-party services: Cloud-based applications seamlessly integrate with third-party cloud computing services through APIs, enabling enhanced functionality and customization options.

There are many categories of cloud-based applications, generally segmented by the intended end user and use case. The major types include:

Software as a Service (SaaS) delivers software applications to end users over the internet, removing the need for installation or maintenance on local devices or servers.  In a SaaS model, software vendors host and maintain the applications on their own infrastructure and provide them to customers through a subscription-based model. 

Leading examples like Salesforce, Office 365, and Slack show how SaaS provides solutions ranging from collaboration tools to customer relationship management to streamline business processes without major infrastructure investments.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) enables businesses to leverage cloud-based infrastructure resources on demand without investing in hardware. Rather than purchasing servers, data centers, or network equipment, companies can provision these technology infrastructure resources instantly as services.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides the most robust, globally available IaaS public cloud. Allocating near instantaneous computing and storage capacity enables businesses to quickly scale applications to millions of users when demand surges while only paying for resources used. As a result, small teams can now develop at the pace of tech giants by leveraging AWS while remaining lean by avoiding large fixed infrastructure investments.

In a PaaS environment, developers gain access to a pre-configured platform that includes development tools, runtime environments, and various services, all delivered over the Internet. This model facilitates collaboration among development teams and streamlines the deployment process, as the platform takes care of tasks like scaling, load balancing, and database management.

Popular examples of PaaS services:

AWS Elastic Beanstalk: AWS Elastic Beanstalk allows users to simplify the creation of web applications through fully managed environments that automate scaling, load-balancing, and deployment. 

Google App Engine: The Google App Engine provides a managed platform with built-in features for computing, data storage, security, monitoring, and analytics to help developers focus solely on writing code instead of managing infrastructure. 

Now that we have looked at the types of cloud applications, let us understand what benefits are in store for businesses when they opt for app development in the cloud.

When you decide to develop a cloud application, you can expect many benefits over building applications on proprietary platforms.

1. Cost efficiency: Cloud computing eliminates the need for substantial upfront investments in hardware and infrastructure. Notably, cloud-based applications have proven to deliver 2.1X the ROI compared to on-premises solutions.
2. Flexibility and agility: Cloud services provide developers with a flexible environment. As a result, they are free to choose programming languages, frameworks, and tools that best suit their applications. AWS, for example, offers over 200 fully featured services to build your cloud apps with.
3. Scalability: Cloud applications can leverage the vast on-demand capacity of the cloud to distribute load across more, or fewer, compute instances, bandwidth capacity, and storage. This ensures consistent customer experience even amidst spikes in traffic, and means companies only pay for the resources they actually need.
4. Global accessibility: Applications deployed in the cloud can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection. This global accessibility is crucial for businesses with distributed teams or a diverse user base.
5. Security: Cloud providers invest heavily in security, like Microsoft, spending $4 billion annually on cybersecurity infrastructure and systems that keep data highly protected. Cloud applications allow configurable security to safeguard sensitive data, including access controls, encryption, firewalls, and more, for securely customized implementation tailored to each business’s specific needs.
6. Backup and disaster recovery: Cloud platforms offer robust backup and disaster recovery solutions. Data is often replicated across multiple data centers, reducing the risk of data loss and providing efficient recovery options in case of unforeseen events.

So far, we’ve looked at the what and why of cloud apps. Now let’s discuss the how – the steps involved in building one yourself to take advantage of the scalability, flexibility, and security the cloud offers.

The development process of an application is usually subject to change depending on the type of application that you are looking to build. Due to this, some of the processes involved can also vary in duration and cost. 

Typically, the best approach to take when developing an application is to build small and reliable applications first and then progressively scale them to meet expectations. Let us look at how to create cloud applications by dissecting all of the steps involved.

Before you begin to develop a cloud application, thorough market research is crucial to confirm real-world demand. This involves competitive analysis and surveying focus groups with target users. 

Once market viability is confirmed, setting measurable business goals helps justify resource allocation. Instead of just focusing on technical milestones, aim for business outcomes like:

• Acquiring new customers
• Increasing revenue
• Reducing IT costs
• Improving customer experience
• Mitigating risks, etc. 

The cloud app development roadmap should focus on fulfilling validated needs, with progress tracking directly tied to the core business goals.

Defining cloud application features requires understanding both user needs and balancing business goals. Start by gathering input from all key stakeholders – target users and customers, business leaders, and technology teams. Then, compile a master list of desired capabilities.

Next, put features into groups:

• Must-haves – Critical for basic viability and core functionality
• Differentiators – Unique capabilities that stand out in a competitive market
• Quick wins – Faster to implement high-value features
• Nice-to-haves – Additional enhancements

With your feature groups mapped out, prioritize development based on expected business impact, balancing effort and complexity. Use ranking criteria like importance to customers, revenue potential, and support of business goals. Also, assess interdependencies that dictate the order of implementation.

For example, a core feature like user login and profiles would be a high priority as it is essential for application functionality. An AI-driven recommendation capability could be a key differentiator that is also prioritized higher due to competitive advantage. Tracking usage data would be a lower priority, nice-to-have.

Selecting the right cloud platform is a foundational decision when undertaking any new cloud application development process. The platform will serve as the core technological framework upon which you build capabilities, enable workflows, and derive value from the investments put into software delivery.

Leading cloud providers today are:

• AWS (Amazon Web Services) – The largest public cloud provider, offering a very broad and deep set of cloud services to develop a cloud application that is flexible, secure, and scalable.
• Microsoft Azure – Powerful set of cloud computing services. Tight integration with existing Microsoft products and services.
• Google Cloud Platform (GCP) – Particularly strong on machine learning and big data capabilities powered by Google’s core strengths.
• Salesforce – Specialized for building customer relationship management (CRM) applications. Integrates tightly with other Salesforce offerings.

Tips for selecting the right cloud platform:

• Consider required capabilities – compute, storage, databases, networking, analytics, etc. What does each platform offer out-of-the-box that matches your needs?
• Assess ease of migration if you have existing legacy applications, tools, and processes to move to the cloud.
• Understand each provider’s strengths and target customer base. Align your application type to the optimal platform.
• Factor in the level of technical skills and experience your team has with a given provider.
• Evaluate cloud services prices and costs, making sure to model for both development and ongoing operating expenses over time.
• Check the provider’s track record with customers of your size and in your industry.

When you develop a cloud application, designing the right architecture should be your number one priority. The application architecture of your cloud-based solution mainly depends on the scale of your application, as there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Cloud-based applications can especially leverage approaches such as the serverless and microservices architecture because they facilitate rapid deployment and autonomy. 

The table given below explores the various architectural styles and their characteristics to explain how and when they should be deployed.

Microservices architecture is the most common choice when developing cloud apps, as it allows you to decouple different functions and data to allow for individual update rollouts and better resiliency to component failures. However, if you are starting out with a simple application, consider building it as a monolith. Twitter, Uber, and Capital One are some examples of microservices-based cloud applications.

After selecting the foundational cloud platform, the next step is to build the software components that bring the application to life, connecting client-side and server-side logic.

Frontend development

Use frameworks like React and Angular to create intuitive, responsive browser-based user interfaces. Connect to backend APIs for smooth workflows.

Backend development

Use programming languages like Node.js, Python, and Java to develop scalable server-side components for cloud-based applications. These components integrate business logic with calls to cloud services like databases and analytics.

Cloud service integration

Integrate native cloud services, such as identity management and messaging queues, from the chosen platform. These services provide secure, resilient building blocks that enhance application quality.

DevOps enablement

Implement continuous development and deployment through source code repositories and automated testing. Use a modular architecture to allow small incremental changes to move rapidly through the CI/CD pipeline.

Well-designed cloud applications have modular components for client, server, and cloud services, supported by DevOps practices for fast delivery. We recommend using technologies and patterns that maximize the benefits of the cloud platform and staying flexible to adopt new services as the platform evolves.

When undertaking app development in the cloud, security provisions need to be baked in from the initial design stages rather than tackled later. By implementing measures focused on protecting data integrity, accessibility, and user privacy, developers can instill resilience against emerging cyber threats. Core best practices include:

• Enable multi-factor authentication for all admin accounts and user sign-ons. Require multiple credentials like biometrics, and one-time codes via emails/texts to verify identity.
• Leverage role-based access controls, restricting data/features visibility based on job functions. Grant minimal required privileges only.
• Classify data sensitivity levels – confidential, restricted, public. Apply appropriate controls like encryption and masking based on these classifications.
• Establish audit logging tracking all system and data access requests, changes, and denials. Review logs regularly for anomalies.
• Conduct recurring penetration testing simulating external attacks to uncover any vulnerabilities in the infrastructure or code.
• Create a cybersecurity incident response plan for breaches outlining immediate communication protocols, investigation procedures, and remediation workflows.

Implementing preventative controls coupled with continuous monitoring establishes resilience in cloud applications.

Testing is an integral part when you build cloud applications as it affirms the reliability of your application and its features before it is launched to the end user. To test your application, it is best to carry out the testing in phases of unit testing, integration testing, and end-to-end testing to ensure that your application stays functional on all levels. 

Unit testing

In unit testing, developers write automated test cases that validate that the smallest units of functionality work as intended – individual methods, classes, and components. Utilizing frameworks like JUnit (Java) and Unittest (Python) to test units in isolation accelerates code validation.

Integration testing

Moving up a level, integration testing verifies the interactions between integrated units by testing interfaces, data flow, and exceptions handling across bound systems. Test automation tools like Selenium speed validating collaborating components function per specifications.

End-to-End (E2E) testing

Finally, end-to-end testing continuously replicates customer scenarios – from inputs to outputs – to catch real-world errors. Frameworks like Cypress enable reliable browser-based testing without dependencies on backends.

In addition to functionality testing, ensure non-functional aspects meet demands:

• Load Testing: Validate application stability under various user loads.
• Stress Testing: Check performance under peak conditions like compute utilization.
• Security Testing: Identify vulnerabilities to safeguard from threats.

Setting up deployment pipelines is a crucial step in cloud-based app development as it ensures a smooth and secure launch of your application and its following updates. Making sure that the application is consistently deployed across all environments requires the configuration of CI/CD pipelines that automatically perform tests and deployments to help you save time and resources during each deployment phase. 

Additionally, configuring alerts for critical events and thresholds enables teams to receive notifications in real-time when anomalies or performance degradation occurs, allowing for swift intervention and resolution. Continuously optimizing resource utilization and costs based on monitoring data is crucial for maximizing efficiency and minimizing expenses in cloud-based environments. 

Launching an application in the cloud is just the starting point of the journey. To continually evolve with technology shifts and user expectations, you need to keep updating and maintaining the application. Here are some best practices for this ongoing stage cloud application development:

• Automate the process of updating your app and its dependencies to patch security vulnerabilities and add new features. Tools like Dependabot or Renovate can help automate dependency updates, ensuring your app stays secure and up to date without manual intervention.
• Stay informed about new developments in cloud technologies by setting up alerts for updates from your cloud provider. Use cloud provider’s monitoring and alerting services (e.g., AWS CloudWatch, Azure Monitor) to receive notifications about new features, best practices, and service updates.
• Consider containerization (e.g., Docker) to package your app and its dependencies for easier updates and deployments. Use Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools like Terraform or AWS CloudFormation to define and manage your cloud resources, making it easier to update and maintain your infrastructure.

For example, if you have a web application deployed on AWS using EC2 instances and an RDS database, you can use AWS CloudWatch to closely track metrics on the health of EC2 application servers and RDS database utilization over time. As traffic and data volumes grow, horizontal scaling out through Terraform scripts helps you add more EC2 instances and allocate additional RDS storage to maintain a responsive application experience.

With the foundational pillars of how to develop a cloud application covered—from market analysis through security plus sustaining quality over time—bringing an idea to life is more achievable than ever. Of course, launching any software solution comes with real-world costs attached no matter how abstract the infrastructure is now.

The cost of developing an average cloud-based SaaS application typically ranges from $50,000 to $60,000. All in all, the cost of your application will predominantly be dictated by the architecture, complexity, and scope of the application.

To explore the cost of building a SaaS application on popular cloud platforms further, you can check out our article on the cost of developing a SaaS application with AWS.

Determining the total cost of developing a cloud application can be challenging due to many interdependent factors. When estimating expenses, consider both initial development costs as well as ongoing operational costs once the application is live.

The initial development of a cloud app involves crucial design decisions impacting development timelines and long-term costs.

• Features and functionality

The scope of workflows, integrations, and algorithms drives the complexity and subsequent development effort. For example, an app with multiple complex workflows, external API integrations, and machine learning components requires more extensive coding and rigorous testing than a simple database-backed application.

• Technology stack

Leveraging proprietary cloud services (e.g. AWS Lambda, DynamoDB) accelerates time-to-market, but it risks locking the application to a vendor and incurring recurring licensing fees. Open-source technologies offer avoidance of vendor lock-in but typically involve more hands-on configuration and maintenance.

• Integration and migration

Interfacing with legacy on-premises systems and migrating existing data can add development tasks. The effort must be accounted for.

Once deployed, fluctuating usage patterns and traffic shape ongoing operations and management costs.

• Hosting, network, and storage

Traffic spikes from seasonal events or promotions can rapidly escalate cloud infrastructure expenses. Auto-scaling groups and monitoring tools help cloud cost optimization but require an upfront investment.

• Availability requirements

Architecting for higher availability levels (99.95% uptime) necessitates additional redundancy and data backups compared to simpler fault tolerance, increasing costs.

• Ongoing management

A dedicated team must handle live operations, monitor performance, fix ongoing bugs, and build new capabilities per product roadmaps. This continuous cost must be built into long-term plans.

Consulting experienced cloud engineering partners like Simform early on can provide the right guidance for balancing business needs with cost-optimization. Simform enables organizations to achieve the promise of the cloud – including increased business agility, lower TCO and focus on differentiation – without the pitfalls of overlooked expenses or  technical debt. Let’s explore some case studies to help you understand how we do it.

We at Simform have helped many businesses realize their goals of building a custom cloud application in multiple industries. Pairing proven expertise with cloud-native development and innovative approaches to enhance user experience and performance, we have created some of the best applications for our clients. 

Simform helped the International Hockey Federation (FIH) develop a robust, scalable website to deliver an exceptional viewing experience to over 3 million fans for the upcoming Hockey World Cup.

Challenge

Build a high-performance, GDPR-compliant website in 3 months that could handle significant traffic spikes during events and be easily reusable for future events.

Solutions

• Employed headless CMS and reusable React components for scalable and flexible architecture
• Optimized content delivery with AWS Cloud (EC2, S3, CloudFront)
• Automated performance testing using JMeter and Selenium
• Incorporated CI/CD and infrastructure as code for improved quality
• Leveraged modern architectures like server-side rendering and caching for speed

Impact

The digital platform delivered a top-notch viewing experience for millions of fans during massive spikes in traffic throughout the World Cup event, validating the scalability of the solution.

When FreeWire Technologies sought to revolutionize electric vehicle charging with their mobile power solutions, they turned to Simform to develop a reliable, high-performance cloud platform.

Challenges

• Processing millions of IoT data points daily
• Ensuring less than 1 minute of downtime per week
• Delivering accuracy despite fluctuating GPS data
• Managing high demand without performance drops

Solutions

By leveraging AWS services like Lambda, IoT Core, RDS, and DynamoDB, Simform built a robust, scalable solution. Key features include:

• Microservices architecture to handle heavy loads
• SQL+NoSQL data persistence for large datasets
• Particle filters to improve geolocation accuracy
• Automated CI/CD pipelines for frequent updates

Impact

The customizable platform provides FreeWire actionable insights into charger usage, sustainability impact, and service delivery. And with Simform’s cloud best practices baked in, FreeWire can continue innovating while confidently scaling.

Developing a cloud application is a daunting endeavor for which you will need a development team that knows how to design the ideal cloud solution with experience using different approaches and strategies. However, building your own team is undoubtedly one of the most expensive undertakings.

This is where Simform comes in. Simform’s cloud app development services have helped organizations quickly innovate, improvise, and scale to meet the market’s changing demands. Our expert cloud architects and developers leverage sophisticated cloud tools and services to offer solutions that include:

• Microservices- Reduced time-to-market through smaller units of deployment
• Containers- Modular development and deployment through individual containers
• Agile Approach- Incremental, iterative, faster deployments

Book a quick consultation with our cloud experts to discuss your goals and vision.