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Cloud computing is becoming more important by the day, and developers who stick to traditional development practices are falling behind. If your business works with traditional .NET developers, it might be time to help them upskill for the cloud. Transitioning to the cloud is challenging, but your team can do it with clear goals in mind. This article explores why the cloud and modern frameworks are important for .NET developers to learn. It compares classic .NET development with cloud-based approaches and shows an upskilling path for your specialists.
Traditional .NET Development vs Cloud-Based Development
Traditional .NET development involves building apps that run on desktops or local servers. Meanwhile, modern cloud-based development uses modern frameworks like .NET Core or .NET. These modern applications run on platforms like Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services, or Microsoft Azure. Here is a breakdown of the differences between the two types of development:
Hosting: As mentioned earlier, traditional development uses private servers. It is difficult to maintain them as you have to spend money on maintenance, updates, and security. Meanwhile, cloud-based development requires far less effort. Service providers charge a fee for hosting on their services in exchange for automatic updates, security, and remote server space. If you hire cloud .NET developer teams, they don’t have to spend any time worrying about any hosting or security problems.
Architecture: Traditional .NET development does not scale well. Upgrading these apps is costly and takes a lot of your development team’s time. Cloud-based architecture is much more flexible and modular. You can deploy updates, features, and even integrate third-party services without any problems.
Support: Newer versions of .NET get a lot more support compared to the traditional .NET framework. .NET Core or .NET work on multiple operating systems. Your developers have to build an app just once and have it work on all platforms with native-like performance.
Performance: You have to maintain a lot of server space in case you face high traffic on your apps. In comparison, cloud-based apps are flexible. Service providers typically offer pay-as-you-go services that automatically scale your server space up or down depending on traffic. This means that your developers don’t have to worry about fluctuating workloads on your apps.
Cost: Traditional .NET setups are much more expensive, as you have to spend money on additional hardware and maintenance. In comparison, cloud-based infrastructure is cheaper and does not need a maintenance team. Your developers can commit all of their time to developing apps instead of worrying about the security and maintenance of your servers.
How To Upskill For The Cloud
There are many ways to upskill for the cloud. Here are some of the fundamentals that your development team has to consider:
Learn modern .NET Frameworks: Developers have to learn modern .NET frameworks to upskill. The newer versions of .NET Core are ideal for cloud environments, and that is where professionals should start. Learning ASP.NET Core and its features is one of the first things that your development team should do.
Learn cloud technology: Microsoft Azure is one of the ideal cloud platforms to start learning. It easily integrates with modern .NET. Resources like Azure Learn can help your developers adapt to the cloud comfortably.
Learn microservices: Once your developers are familiar with modern .NET and cloud technology, they should learn microservices. Traditional .NET apps are typically monolithic, while modern cloud-based apps are modular. Learning how to use tools like Docker and Kubernetes can help your team understand how microservices architecture works.
Adopt DevOps: DevOps practices are important for modern cloud-based development. Your developers have to learn how to use GitHub Actions and Azure DevOps. They can also use Azure Monitor and Application Insights to get more insights.
Learn cost optimization: Microsoft’s Azure well-architected Framework or Amazon’s AWS well-architected can help your developers learn how to build cost-efficient apps. These resources offer guidelines on how to build modern, secure, and reliable applications.
Work with experienced teams: Once your in-house team is familiar with modern development and cloud-based technologies, the developers can work on real-world projects. You can consider hiring cloud .NET developers to work with your in-house developers for hands-on training. Your team can gain valuable insights from experienced professionals and use the knowledge to upgrade your infrastructure or build new apps.
How Businesses Can Support Their Developers
If you are a business owner, you should help your developers transition from classic .NET development to modern cloud-based frameworks. You can work with consultants who offer .NET cloud development services. Getting your in-house teams to collaborate with external teams can help your developers upskill for cloud-based technologies. According to Juliya Shmatok, head of recruitment at Chudovo, consultants can offer mentorship, which in turn helps you upgrade your existing software architecture and adopt modern cloud-based technologies.
You can also invest in training programs and certifications for your in-house team. Cloud training modules like Microsoft Learn, Pluralsight, and Azure Certification programs give developers a chance to gain hands-on experience using sandbox environments. This is very useful as your developers can work on realistic projects without interfering with your existing production systems.
You can also hire external software engineers to collaborate with your existing developers. The external software team can help your developers adopt microservices, CI/CD pipelines, and other important elements of cloud-based development. By helping your team adopt modern frameworks, both your developers and your business can keep up in a competitive environment.
Conclusion
Moving to cloud-based technology is important for .NET developers. Your development team shouldn’t take the transition on as a challenge, but rather as upskilling. The developers have to learn modern frameworks that use cloud technology to keep up to date in the fast-paced industry. You can help them by organizing training, preparing learning resources, and hiring experts to train your developers. Consulting services or professional developers with industry experience can help your development team upskill and be ready to create modern .NET software applications for your business.