GitLab and Google Cloud launched a new capability within the GitLab platform that supports enterprises cloud migrations with a single platform at the hyperscaler's Next event.

The open source Cloud Seed tool will play "a big role in improving the developer experience as well as easing cloud adoption and migration," GitLab VP of Alliances Nima Badiey told SDxCentral.

The tool helps developers simplify cloud adoption by allowing them to deploy applications from GitLab's DevOps platform directly to Google Cloud "without hopping from the IDE to SCM to the cloud console to provision services," Badiey said. This renders it "a scalable, high-performing tool that we believe will meet organizational needs to consolidate tech stacks without slowing down the cloud adoption process," he said.

A cloud migration approach like Cloud Seed's reduces complexity and coding mistakes that result in vulnerabilities and improves developer productivity by reducing time spent addressing issues like inconsistent credential management, according to the company.

GitLab posits Cloud Seed as the key for many organizations looking to accelerate DevOps, cloud adoption, or cloud migration. Badiey acknowledged that in the age of the cloud, all companies are software companies, "and we know that toolchain consolidation and simplifications is a key to faster, safer, and more efficient software delivery and cloud migrations."

The tool will also "help drive the right behavior" for organizations stuck in legacy mindsets. He highlighted the tool's natural encouragement of cloud-native services like databases and containers rather than "bespoke hand woven services sourced from unknown or unreliable public repositories."

At the end of the day, a cloud database operated and managed as a service by Google is more reliable than a PostgreSQL database installed from a potentially unverified publisher on DockerHub. "Building better products with speed and consistency requires reliable cloud solutions to rapidly scale and meet sudden demand," he noted.

He also touted the tool's status as an open source project built by contributions from the community, "which is even more reason to celebrate this collaborative effort."

And as multi-cloud environments gain traction, Badiey noted GitLab is "continually building its relationships and capabilities with leading, and emerging, cloud providers." Going forward, the company hopes to "encourage creativity and efficiency internally and with our partners to build unique joint offerings that meet industry needs."