The advent of the cloud has led to a new paradigm in designing, implementing, and ongoing maintenance of computer systems. While there are many different names for this new paradigm, the one most commonly used is cloud native architectures. In this book, we will explore what exactly cloud native architectures are, why they are new and different, and how they are being implemented across a wide range of global companies. As the name suggests, it's all about the cloud and using cloud vendor services to design these architectures to solve business problems in new, robust, and secure ways. The purpose of this chapter is to explain and define what cloud native architectures are, and provide some insights into the pros, cons, and myths of cloud native architectures. We will explore what it means to be cloud native, understand the spectrum and components that are required for this type of architecture, and appreciate the journey that a company would need to undertake to move up in maturity on the model.