Cloud Computing in Software Development: A Complete Guide

According to the Flexera 2025 State of the Cloud Report, more than 95% of enterprise organizations now have a cloud footprint. The proportion of enterprise workloads running in the public cloud has grown from 32% in 2018 to 52% in 2025.

Small and medium-sized businesses are accelerating adoption as well, with 13% of SMBs expecting to increase their public cloud workloads. Still, migrating to the cloud doesn’t guarantee efficiency or real business value. Without the right architecture, governance, and operational strategy, cloud environments can quickly become complex and expensive.

So, what does it mean to use cloud computing effectively in custom software development?

This article will dive into the essentials of cloud computing in today’s landscape, as well as its benefits, challenges, and future trends. You’ll also find advice on how to keep cloud costs in check and move beyond simple migration to a truly optimized, mature cloud infrastructure.

But let’s start from the basics.

Cloud computing is an on-demand delivery of a wide range of IT services and resources over the Internet on a pay-per-use basis. It allows businesses to easily rent, access, and scale servers, storage, databases, networking, software, and analytics based on their needs. Compared to traditional setups, cloud computing significantly lowers upfront costs and eliminates the need to maintain physical infrastructure.

So, how does it work?

Behind the cloud capabilities stand physical data centers that house the servers, storage systems, and networking equipment required for cloud computing. These facilities are strategically located around the globe to ensure redundancy and low-latency access for users. You can access these resources from a cloud provider through a web interface or API.

Modern cloud computing consists of multiple components, each crucial in delivering seamless and scalable IT services. While some specific components may vary depending on the provider, each can be integrated into an architecture supporting business operations. Here are some of the most essential ones.

• Computing. These services provide the processing power needed to run applications and manage workloads efficiently. They include on-demand access to computing resources like virtual machines, containers, and serverless functions. Cloud computing ensures you can scale your computing capacity as needed, handle high traffic, and manage complex workloads.
• Storage. Cloud storage allows you to store and retrieve data over the Internet without managing physical hardware. It can easily handle growing data needs and backup requirements. Depending on the kind of data you’re storing, you can choose from different storage options: object storage for unstructured data like images or videos, block storage for applications needing raw storage space, and file storage for sharing data across multiple systems.
• Security. Encryption, firewalls, identity and access management, and security monitoring services ensure that data, applications, and systems you store in the cloud are protected against unauthorized access, breaches, and other threats. Cloud providers also ensure compliance with industry standards and regulations, so you won’t have to worry about meeting security and privacy requirements on your own.
• Virtualization. This technology mimics the functions of physical hardware, allowing multiple virtual machines (VMs) to run simultaneously on a single physical machine. It allows you to create virtual versions of servers, storage, networks, and other physical hardware running in isolated environments.
• Data processing services. These services help you analyze and manage large amounts of data efficiently. You can use batch processing to handle data in bulk at scheduled times or real-time stream processing to analyze continuous data streams as they come in.
• Networking capabilities. With networking connections, front-end users can access back-end functions and stored data. These capabilities include high-speed internet connections, load balancers, content delivery networks (CDNs), routers, and firewalls that ensure quick and secure data transfer.
• AI services. These services allow you to use out-of-the-box artificial intelligence capabilities without requiring you to build complex models from scratch. They encompass a wide range of features, from natural language processing for chatbots and sentiment analysis to computer vision for object detection and recognition and more.

Providers may also offer additional cloud computing applications, each serving a specific purpose in enhancing cloud solutions’ overall functionality and performance.

Vendors offering cloud computing to a global customer base do so through different types of cloud services. Based on the service model, cloud services can be categorized into three main types: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS).

Furthermore, cloud computing deployment models differ in how the infrastructure is hosted and managed, with options like private, public, hybrid, and multicloud.

So let’s take a closer look at each type.

Cloud deployment determines where the cloud infrastructure is hosted and who has access to it. Here are four primary cloud deployment models.

It is hosted either on-premises or by a third-party provider for a single organization. This model gives organizations complete control over their infrastructure and data, which is essential for companies with strict security or regulatory requirements. Private clouds are typically more expensive to set up and maintain than public clouds, but they offer higher levels of customization and privacy.

Third-party cloud providers own and operate public cloud services and make their resources, such as servers and storage, available to multiple customers over the Internet. According to Statista, public cloud services are revving up and are projected to reach nearly 46% of total infrastructure spending by the end of 2024. Public clouds are ideal for businesses that want to take advantage of the scalability and cost-efficiency offered by shared infrastructure without the need to manage or maintain the physical hardware.

This deployment model allows businesses to use a mix of on-premises, private cloud, and third-party public cloud services, with orchestration between them. A hybrid approach offers greater flexibility, enabling companies to keep sensitive workloads in private environments while leveraging the scalability and elasticity of the public cloud. It also helps organizations optimize existing infrastructure rather than replace it entirely.

This model has become the dominant strategy for many organizations. According to the Flexera 2025 State of the Cloud Report, 70% of respondents embrace hybrid cloud strategies, using at least one public and one private cloud. This reflects a clear shift toward balanced, multi-environment architectures rather than relying on a single deployment model.

It involves using multiple public clouds from different providers to meet an organization’s diverse needs. Unlike hybrid clouds, which integrate private and public environments into a coordinated system, multicloud strategies rely on two or more independent cloud services, often to avoid vendor lock-in, improve resilience, or leverage specialized capabilities from different providers.

According to the Flexera 2025 State of the Cloud Report, multicloud is no longer a niche strategy but a mainstream approach. The report shows that 34% of organizations use multiple public and multiple private clouds, while 21% operate with multiple public clouds and one private cloud. Another 8% rely on one public cloud combined with multiple private clouds, and 7% use one public and one private cloud.

These figures demonstrate that most organizations are managing complex, multi-environment infrastructures rather than relying on a single provider.

The primary distinction between different cloud service models lies in responsibility sharing. This is, specifically, how much of the software and hardware stack is managed by the user and how much by the cloud provider.

IaaS provides on-demand access to essential computing resources such as servers, storage, networking, and virtualization over the Internet. In other words, IaaS allows companies to rent cloud infrastructure on a pay-as-you-go basis. This gives you the flexibility to scale your resources up or down as needed without worrying about the physical costs or maintenance of the hardware. As a result, you retain control over the operating systems, applications, and data while the cloud provider manages the infrastructure.

In contrast to IaaS, PaaS provides the underlying infrastructure and offers a fully managed environment for building, testing, and deploying applications. The cloud provider takes care of the servers, storage, and networking and offers additional tools and services to simplify the development process. No wonder that today, PaaS accounts for about 20% of the overall cloud services market.

A great example is serverless, which overlaps most closely with PaaS but introduces higher abstraction by eliminating the need to manage server processes or infrastructure altogether.

In the SaaS model, the cloud provider delivers a complete, ready-to-use application over the Internet. Customers can access, customize, and use the software, but the provider fully manages all aspects of the application’s operation, such as updates, bug fixes, and overall maintenance.

Each service model shifts more responsibility to the cloud service provider and, consequently, reduces the workload on the cloud user. So, the more involved the provider is, the less you need to manage.

Now that you know what cloud computing is and what it has under the bonnet, let’s check what key players are leading the cloud software development market.

When it comes to cloud computing, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud dominate the global market. However, adoption looks different when measured by workload usage rather than overall market share.

According to the Flexera 2025 State of the Cloud Report, 53% of organizations run significant workloads on AWS. Microsoft Azure closely follows, with 46% running significant workloads. Google Cloud Platform shows lower levels of deep adoption, with 19% running significant workloads and 27% running some workloads.

Given that, AWS and Azure continue to compete closely for the top cloud provider position, with Azure slightly edging out AWS in certain workload tiers.

So, let’s look at two major market leaders — Azure vs. AWS.

Microsoft Azure is one of the major players in the cloud computing space, operating in over 60 regions globally (more than any other cloud provider). More than 95% of Fortune 500 companies trust Azure thanks to its seamless integration with other Microsoft products like Windows and Office 365. Azure offers a broad range of services, from virtual machines and storage to advanced tools for AI integration.

One of Azure’s standout features is its extensive compliance coverage, with over 100 compliance certifications, including over 50 that are region- or country-specific. Azure’s hybrid cloud capabilities also allow businesses to combine their on-premises infrastructure with cloud services to create flexible, custom environments. This makes Azure cloud development a perfect fit for companies who want to use hybrid deployment.

AWS is the largest and most established cloud service provider, offering over 200 fully featured services for building, deploying, and managing applications online. AWS serves more than a million active customers across 190 countries. With its massive global infrastructure and flexibility, AWS cloud development can be a top choice for companies seeking to scale their operations quickly and efficiently.

For instance, in one of our projects, we hosted the software’s modules and supporting functionality on various AWS services. Key components included:

• Amazon EC2 for scalable computing power.
• Amazon RDS and S3 bucket for robust and reliable database management.
• Amazon Route 53 for DNS services.
• Amazon Elastic Load Balancer and Amazon VPC to ensure high availability and secure networking.
• Amazon Lambda Functions to enable efficient serverless computing.

This multi-module cloud architecture allowed our customer to perform fast, straightforward scale-ups and upgrades while ensuring the flexibility needed to adapt to future demands.

Two of its most popular services are Amazon EC2 and Amazon S3. The first allows users to create virtual machines for various projects with minimum server maintenance time. Amazon S3, in turn, is a highly secure, scalable storage solution.

Cloud has taken the IT world by storm. Today, nearly every company relies on cloud services to some degree. And there are good reasons for that.

Here are a few significant benefits cloud computing can bring to your business.

Traditional IT infrastructure often requires substantial upfront investments in hardware, software, and maintenance. By moving to the cloud, businesses can eliminate these capital expenses and switch to an operational expense model, where they only pay for the resources they actually use.

This “pay-as-you-go” approach can dramatically reduce costs, especially for small and medium-sized businesses that don’t want to invest in large-scale data centers. In fact, research from Nucleus analyzed 101 ROI case studies and revealed that cloud computing delivers 4.01 times the ROI compared to traditional on-premises solutions. The main reason is that cloud providers benefit from economies of scale, meaning they can offer services at a lower variable cost than if a company tried to manage everything independently.

As your business grows or experiences fluctuations in demand, the cloud allows you to quickly scale up or down without purchasing additional hardware or overprovisioning resources upfront. This is particularly beneficial for companies with seasonal workloads or sudden spikes in user activity.

Cloud services allow you to instantly increase computing power, storage, or bandwidth to meet your company’s needs without downtime or delays. When the demand drops, you can just as easily scale back, ensuring you’re only paying for what you actually use.

With cloud-based applications and services, you and your company’s employees/users can access files, share documents, and work together in real time from anywhere with an Internet connection. This is especially important for companies with remote or distributed teams, as the cloud facilitates seamless collaboration without needing everyone to be in the same physical space.

Additionally, because data is stored in the cloud, it’s easily accessible from any device, making remote work and on-the-go access incredibly convenient.

One often overlooked benefit of cloud computing is that it automates software updates and security patches. In traditional IT setups, companies must manually manage and install updates, which can be time-consuming and, if neglected, can lead to security vulnerabilities. With cloud services, updates are handled by the provider, ensuring that your systems are always running the latest versions and benefiting from the most up-to-date security protocols.

Most cloud providers invest heavily in security measures, offering encryption, disaster recovery, and backup solutions that many businesses would find difficult to implement on their own.

Companies can significantly cut their energy consumption by using shared cloud infrastructure instead of maintaining physical servers and data centers. Studies show that moving to the public cloud and developing cloud-based applications could reduce global emissions and energy use by up to 20%.

The primary reason for these reductions lies in the fact that cloud providers optimize their data centers by using renewable energy sources and advanced cooling systems, which help lower carbon emissions. In fact, major cloud providers like Azure and AWS are committed to becoming carbon-neutral, with plans to power their data centers using 100% sustainable energy by 2030.

As businesses increasingly adopt cloud computing for its numerous advantages, it’s important to recognize that managing cloud resources effectively becomes a key part of maximizing those benefits. While the cloud offers incredible flexibility and potential for growth, it also presents the challenge of balancing costs with performance. Without careful oversight, cloud expenses can quickly grow. This is where cloud cost management and optimization come into play.

According to the Flexera 2025 State of the Cloud Report, 84% of respondents cite managing cloud spend as their top cloud challenge. Despite years of cloud adoption, cost control continues to be a persistent issue. The latest HashiCorp State of Cloud Strategy Survey proves that point, stating that 91% of companies report wasting some of their cloud expenses. Although this is slightly down from 96% in 2023, it still highlights a significant issue for businesses managing cloud resources.

The top three contributors to cloud waste remain consistent: lack of necessary skills, overprovisioning of resources, and idle or underused resources. However, skills shortages have now taken the top spot.

So, what can you do to minimize or eliminate cloud waste?

The solution lies in cloud cost optimization — a strategic approach to managing and reducing cloud spending without compromising system performance or operational efficiency. While cloud cost management focuses on tracking, controlling, and allocating expenses, cost optimization is about striking the right balance between performance, resources, and expenses to achieve the highest value from your cloud investments.

Here are several cloud cost optimization strategies and best practices you can implement.

Effective cloud cost management begins with understanding where your money is going. Cloud providers like Azure and AWS offer native cost monitoring and management tools. They include real-time dashboards, cost breakdowns by service, and usage insights, allowing you to track expenses, set budget alerts, and manage costs within your cloud infrastructure.

You can also use third-party solutions like CloudHealth, Datadog, and Splunk, which provide advanced analytics and cost optimization recommendations. They excel when managing multi-cloud environments but can also be handy when using a single cloud.

The latest TechTarget research reveals that using third-party cloud cost optimization tools helps businesses achieve substantial and instant returns, with an average monthly reduction in cloud expenses of 33%.

One of the most common causes of cloud waste is overprovisioning. It happens when you allocate more computing power, storage, or bandwidth than you need to avoid performance issues. Overprovisioning can often lead to wasted spending on unused resources.

To tackle this challenge, regularly assess your resource usage and measure KPI metrics to adjust your cloud instances to match actual demand. Additionally, you can set up alert notifications when resource consumption reaches its maximum and implement auto-scaling policies. AWS states that right-sizing lets you achieve monthly bill savings of up to 70%.

Cloud providers offer different discount pricing models, including AWS spot instances and reserved instances (by Azure and AWS), that can significantly reduce costs if used appropriately.

According to the Flexera 2025 State of the Cloud Report, 96% of organizations are already using at least one cloud provider discount option. On average, companies use 2.4 public clouds and apply 3.9 discount mechanisms across their cloud environments. While this shows strong adoption of cost-saving tools, the report also notes that most organizations still have room to expand their use of available discounts.

Spot instances, for example, allow you to purchase unused computing capacity at a discount, sometimes up to 90% off the regular price. However, they come with the catch. Spot instances can be terminated if demand increases. This option works well for non-critical workloads, like batch processing jobs or testing environments.

Reserved instances are ideal for predictable, long-term workloads. By committing to use a specific instance type for a one- or three-year term, you can lock in substantial savings compared to on-demand pricing.

Idle or underused resources are a silent drain on cloud budgets. Often, development environments or test instances run 24/7, even though they are not always in use. To avoid unnecessary costs, automate the shutdown of non-essential resources during off-hours. Many cloud providers offer scheduling tools to automate these processes, helping you eliminate waste without disrupting productivity.

Cloud storage can become costly if not managed properly, especially if you store large volumes of infrequently accessed or outdated data. Use tiered storage solutions offered by cloud providers to move data to lower-cost storage options based on how often it’s accessed. For example, infrequently accessed data can be moved to cold storage or archived, while frequently accessed data can stay in premium storage.

In addition, regularly audit your storage to identify data that can be deleted, compressed, or moved to cheaper storage solutions.

While all these actions can help you substantially cut your cloud bill, there is one more cost-saving option for companies that are just starting their cloud journey — cloud native.

Cloud native is an approach to building, deploying, and running software applications to fully use cloud infrastructure and services for storing, scaling, and managing data and resources. This allows cloud-native applications to be more resilient, scalable, and flexible, as they can automatically and in real-time adapt to changes in load and infrastructure.

At the heart of cloud-native architecture is the principle of modularity and automation. These applications are built with the expectation that they will operate in distributed, ever-changing environments. This allows you to respond to market demands quickly, roll out updates faster, and reduce the risks of downtime or performance issues.

The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) lists immutable infrastructure, microservices, containers, declarative APIs, and service meshes as the technological blocks of cloud-native architecture. Cloud-native applications frequently rely on combining the components mentioned above to achieve optimal performance.

While microservices and containers handle much of the modularity and portability of cloud-native applications, serverless architecture takes cloud-native development to the next level by abstracting infrastructure management. In serverless models, cloud providers take care of provisioning, scaling, and maintaining the underlying servers. This allows developers to focus solely on writing code without worrying about the infrastructure.

As of 2022, 23% of companies worldwide reported that they had adopted serverless architecture, and an additional 28% were planning to do so within the next 18 months.

Deloitte states that serverless applications can reduce development costs by 68% by allocating compute resources on a pay-for-use basis. Yet, serverless isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. It is typically used for event-driven tasks that are lightweight and short-lived. This makes it an excellent complement to microservices.

For example, a cloud-native application might use serverless functions for specific on-demand actions like processing payments, sending notifications, or executing scheduled tasks. These functions only run when triggered, which can lead to significant cost savings since you won’t be paying for idle resources.

However, a 2024 Cloud Computing Study reveals that only 36% of companies are building cloud-native applications from the ground up. This percentage is higher among high-tech (44%) and healthcare companies (41%). As for the rest, who initially launched their products or services on-premises or are looking to switch between cloud providers, transitioning to cloud-native solutions is essential to remain competitive. However, this shift comes with its own set of challenges.

A recent Cloud Computing Study revealed that 63% of companies have accelerated cloud migration over the last 12 months, up 6% from last year and back to the pace of migration in 2022. As of 2024, 70% say their organization chooses cloud-based services when upgrading or purchasing. While the momentum toward broader cloud adoption and greater cloud maturity continues to build, migration challenges still prevent many organizations from fully realizing the benefits of the cloud.

Data from the Flexera 2025 State of the Cloud Report highlights just how complex this transition can be. Among all respondents, the top migration challenge is understanding application dependencies, cited by 54% of organizations. Assessing technical feasibility follows at 46%, while 43% struggle with optimizing costs after migration. Another 40% report difficulty comparing on-premises and cloud costs, underscoring that financial clarity remains a major concern even before workloads are moved.

As organizations continue to move workloads to the public cloud, the data makes one thing clear: accelerating migration is only part of the equation. Without addressing architectural dependencies, technical feasibility, and cost optimization early in the process, companies risk creating cloud environments that are expensive, inefficient, and difficult to manage.

But that is only a tip of the iceberg. Let’s take a closer look at some of these and other, less obvious, challenges that may hinder companies from fully realizing the value of the cloud.

40% of Cloud Computing Study respondents acknowledged that the replacement of on-premises legacy technology was one of the primary drivers of their cloud investments last year. This comes as no surprise since many businesses today still rely on outdated, monolithic architectures that were never designed for cloud environments. Migrating these systems typically requires re-architecting or refactoring, which can be time-consuming and costly. Additionally, legacy systems may use outdated technologies incompatible with modern cloud services. This may require further effort to integrate them into cloud platforms.

Cloud providers typically provide security features and compliance protocols as part of their service. Still, businesses must ensure that sensitive data is protected during and after migration. The transition may expose data to vulnerabilities, especially if proper encryption, access control, and monitoring mechanisms are not in place.

Many organizations run hybrid environments, where on-premises systems need to coexist with cloud solutions. Ensuring seamless integration between these systems can become a major challenge. Migrating to the cloud often requires reworking existing applications to interact with new cloud services, databases, and APIs. Achieving smooth interoperability between legacy and cloud systems without disrupting business processes demands expertise and extensive testing.

On top of that, organizations are increasingly looking to integrate advanced technologies like AI. According to recent studies, 90% of businesses view AI as a strategic priority, yet 91% acknowledge that their current IT infrastructure cannot support such advancements. This adds another layer of complexity, as companies must adapt their systems not only for the cloud but also for AI readiness.

HashiCorp 2024 State of Cloud Strategy Survey states that this year, 64% of organizations said they don’t have all the staff expertise they need to support their cloud infrastructure strategy. This skills gap is even bigger among lower-maturity organizations, with 71% of companies citing it as one of the top blockers to pursue cloud software development. The skill shortage also affected 52% of highly mature enterprises.

The lack of cloud-skilled professionals makes it difficult for businesses to maximize the potential of their cloud environments, leading to longer migration timelines and increased operational risks. Fortunately, partnering with an experienced vendor for cloud software development services can give your business a leg up and speed up the migration process.

Now that we’ve explored the reasons for migrating to the cloud and the challenges that may come with it, it’s time to shift our focus to the future.

Cloud computing has reached a clear tipping point. According to the Flexera 2025 State of the Cloud Report, over half of enterprise and SMB workloads are now running in public clouds. While some analysts suggest that organizations are pulling workloads back to on-premises environments, the data tells a different story. Only 21% of cloud workloads have been repatriated. At the same time, continued migration to the cloud and the addition of new cloud-native workloads are outpacing these exits, driving sustained cloud growth across industries.

But what will drive this exponential growth?

Here are several growth factors and trends that will fuel cloud-based software development.

Today, we have already entered the AI transformation era, where AI integration with cloud computing is one of its major growth drivers. According to the Flexera 2025 State of the Cloud Report, usage of GenAI public cloud services increased significantly from 47% last year, whether used sparingly or extensively, to 72% in 2025. At the same time, the share of respondents who reported not using GenAI dropped sharply from 14% to just 1%. This rapid acceleration shows how quickly generative AI has moved from experimentation to mainstream adoption within cloud environments.

Cloud providers like Azure and AWS offer a comprehensive suite of ready-to-use, managed AI services ranging from generative AI tools to customizable computer vision capabilities and sentiment analysis.

This model is often called AI as a Service (AIaaS) — a business approach where vendors deliver different AI capabilities as cloud-based services. AIaaS providers host AI/ML algorithms, platforms, and tools on cloud infrastructure and allow businesses to access these resources through APIs or web interfaces on a subscription basis. This eliminates the need for companies to build or maintain their own infrastructure and makes AI more accessible and affordable.

AIaaS opens the door for companies of all sizes to use advanced AI technology without the high costs or complexity typically associated with it. Unsurprisingly, the global AIaaS market, valued at $20,26 billion in 2025, is projected to grow at an impressive annual rate of 35.1% in the next five years.

Sustainability is becoming a central focus for organizations worldwide, and the cloud is critical in helping companies reduce their carbon footprints. Data centers and data transmission networks are responsible for 1% of energy-related GHG emissions. While this may seem like a small share, the demand for data centers is snowballing, and they alone account for 3% of annual global energy consumption.

At the same time, migration of critical workloads to the cloud continues to accelerate. More organizations now identify as “cloud-first,” actively migrating legacy applications to public and private cloud environments while prioritizing the development and acquisition of cloud-native applications. In a recent 451 Research survey, 69% of respondents said they plan to increase public cloud spending. This sustained growth makes sustainability in cloud computing not just an environmental concern but a strategic priority.

The push toward sustainable cloud computing is driven by regulatory pressures and increasing customer demand for environmentally responsible solutions. Major cloud providers like Microsoft Azure and AWS matched 100% of their operational electricity consumption with renewable energy in 2023, primarily in their data centers.

As companies increasingly prioritize green initiatives, the cloud will be essential in reducing environmental impact while meeting the growing need for data processing and storage.

As hybrid and multicloud strategies mature, large-scale data migration is becoming one of the defining cloud trends heading into 2026. According to the S&P Global 2026 Trends in Cloud and Cloud Native report, both the frequency and size of data migrations are expected to continue increasing. Organizations are no longer moving isolated workloads. They are shifting massive datasets across cloud providers, colocation facilities, and on-premises environments as part of broader optimization strategies.

Cost savings remains the primary driver behind these migrations. Companies are actively relocating data to environments that offer lower storage and compute costs while still meeting performance and governance requirements. At the same time, data sovereignty regulations are influencing decisions. Companies are moving workloads between clouds or even repatriating data to enterprise data centers or colocation facilities to comply with regional data laws and internal compliance policies.

The scale of these movements has grown significantly. In 2025, 78% of organizations reported migrating data between public cloud providers, up sharply from 40% the previous year. Even more striking is the increase in payload size. 70% of respondents moved datasets larger than 1 petabyte in 2025, compared to just 40% the year before. This signals a clear shift from incremental cloud transitions to large-scale, enterprise-grade data mobility.

To handle this growing complexity, organizations are turning to specialized tools and partners. In 2025, 36% used provider-enabled physical transport devices such as AWS Snowball to move large volumes of data. Additionally, 46% enlisted service providers or system integrators to support migration efforts, nearly doubling from 24% in 2024.

As businesses store and process increasing amounts of sensitive data in the cloud, securing cloud environments has become a top priority. This is where the rise of zero trust architecture is set to shape the future of cloud security. Zero trust models assume that threats can come from inside or outside the network, so they require continuous verification of all users and devices attempting to access resources, even after they are inside the network.

A recent Cisco survey revealed that more than 86% of organizations have begun implementing zero trust frameworks. However, only 2% have fully matured their approach across all pillars of zero trust. So while adoption is underway, there is still significant room for growth.

Since 2014, Leobit has successfully developed over 100 cloud-based projects for SMBs and enterprises. We continuously invest in expanding our cloud expertise, and today, we are proud to have a team of 70 certified Azure and AWS cloud specialists.

Last year, Leobit passed Microsoft’s technical assessment, becoming a Microsoft Solution Partner for Digital and App Innovation. This year, we reaffirmed our status in the updated Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program, which expands requirements for Microsoft partners to strengthen their expertise in AI development and integration.

In addition to the Microsoft partnership designation, Clutch, a well-known B2B ratings and reviews platform, recognized Leobit’s excellence in cloud development and consulting services. This year, we were ranked among the global AWS and Azure developers and cloud consulting companies.

Our accumulated expertise allows us to offer a comprehensive range of cloud services, including:

• Cloud consulting
• Cloud migration
• Cloud cost optimization
• Cloud architecture design
• Cloud AI services
• SaaS solution development

These services are designed to help businesses maximize their cloud investments, from initial strategy to full-scale implementation and ongoing optimization.

Here are several real-life examples that showcase our expertise.

Our customer, a US-based real estate agency, approached us with the need to redesign and redevelop their website, which was facing declining user engagement. The issues stemmed from poor functionality and an outdated user experience, which negatively impacted their online presence.

To address these challenges, we helped the client reconfigure their cloud architecture, ensuring they could fully use the benefits of AWS, including scalability, cost-efficiency, manageability, and improved productivity. Our team began by configuring essential AWS services to optimize performance and maintainability. We set up Amazon EC2 for computing capacity and MySQL RDS for a robust and scalable database solution.

To ensure efficient DNS routing, we integrated the application with AWS Route 53, which provides a highly available and scalable domain name system service. Additionally, we configured Amazon S3 and AWS Lambda to handle property images sourced from MLS. These services work together to store and automatically resize images based on platform requirements. As a result, they ensure the real estate listings are displayed optimally.

By configuring AWS technologies and services properly, we helped our customer obtain a future-proof, scalable solution aligned with the latest industry trends. The revamped cloud architecture allows the real estate agency to optimize operational costs and meet growing customer demands. Learn more about the project in our Real Estate Search Platform case study.

Our customer, a European photo printing company, referred to us to modernize their application and implement new features.

After a detailed technical audit, Leobit developed a comprehensive reengineering strategy. Following a vertical modernization approach, we rewrote 60% of the existing code and added 40% in new features.

To cut cloud expenses, we optimized the application’s business logic and restructured its use of Azure cloud resources. By activating resources only during specific operational hours, we slashed Azure costs by an impressive 75%.

We also integrated Azure Vision AI Services to improve user experience. The AI analyzes photos uploaded by users, identifies points of interest, and automatically adjusts and crops them to fit the required print format perfectly.

Learn more about the project and Leobit’s contribution to it in our Printed Photo Gifting Mobile App
case study.

Investing in cloud computing infrastructure becomes a necessity for your business to support AI and other emerging technologies shaping the future. When properly adopted or migrated to, cloud computing can deliver 4x the ROI compared to traditional on-premises solutions. But that’s just the icing on the cake.

Beyond ROI, cloud computing offers unmatched flexibility to respond rapidly to market changes, resilience to handle demand fluctuations, and the ability to use advanced data analytics. Cloud platforms also allow you to future-proof your operations by giving you the foundation to adopt AI, automation, and advanced data processing as needed.

The shift to the cloud unlocks limitless potential for growth, yet it isn’t without challenges, the biggest of which is the lack of experienced cloud application developers. But don’t worry. Leobit can have your back and help you build cloud-based solutions for the web, mobile, and desktop.

Contact us, and let’s start your cloud transformation journey together.