This analyst white paper shares IDC's view on how development teams can get the most out of cloud computing, and how using cloud services when building cloud-native applications can increase productivity. By using cloud services for foundational functionality such as data streaming, AI/ML, and API management teams can free themselves from the responsibilities of managing complex infrastructure at scale, and focus on business outcomes. IDC explores the challenges of working across hybrid-cloud environments, the innovations being made in open source communities, and how to empower developers with the flexibility and choice offered by cloud services.