The S3 API won because it was an interface that stayed boring. Now it's the backbone of cloud portability, enabling workloads to run on any cloud.

Tigris

S3 API compatibility has become the backbone of cloud portability by providing a stable, standardized interface for object storage across providers. Combined with Kubernetes for compute and standard networking protocols, S3-compatible storage enables workloads to run on any cloud without vendor lock-in. BYOC (Bring Your Own Cloud) platforms like Nuon, Northflank, and SkyPilot leverage these standards to make portability practical, treating clouds as execution environments rather than platforms. The key principle is storing state in S3-compatible object storage while keeping compute portable, enabling operational consistency and flexibility in cloud provider choice.

How S3 API compatibility lets you use any cloud

Why is S3 compatible storage so portable? ​

What "Use Any Cloud" actually looks like in practice ​

BYOC platforms make portability the baseline ​

Principles of portable workload design ​

Conclusion: S3 compatible storage is the backbone of portable workloads ​