Enterprises adopt the multi-cloud to leverage the multiple services in a single heterogeneous architecture. There could be different reasons ranging from flexibility to feature functionality, for deploying a multi-cloud architecture. Here is an article on the different pros and cons of multi-cloud and what every CIO should know.
The advantages of multi-cloud
There are different multi-cloud strategies, but most CIOs tend prefer a single public cloud provider first. And after some time, they choose one or more providers to do more than using a single platform. Nobody wants to be limited by a single cloud platform. The multi-cloud helps to leverage new technologies and create resilient and elastic applications.
Some companies use GCP (Cloud Computing Services) for analytics, while using AWS (Amazon Web Services) for transactions. Healthcare IT companies use private cloud to manage their electronic health records. On the other hand, they also use Azure for analytics and deep learning. Besides, they can also adopt AWS or GCP based on their business requirements.
Elasticity is the principal goal of CIOs. For example, they may deploy AWS for some time, and the financial drivers may suggest Azure or GCP. It is necessary to avoid the vendor lock-in, while maintaining flexibility along the cloud journey.
The disadvantages of multi-cloud
The multi-cloud architecture also poses some trade-offs. Many choose the cloud to reduce operational costs. But it can be a challenge to move to a multi-cloud environment. And the CIOs spend more time on researching the cloud migration.
The multi-cloud also introduces more complexity. The applications can be portable, but the customizations and data persistence issues could pose problems. Accessing multiple clouds could introduce more risks, because of the high number of security touchpoints. A lot of data gets exposed while going through the different clouds.
There would also be a shortage of skills and expertise when it comes to handling multi-clouds. Companies using compute services from Azure, AWS and GCP feel difficult to support the compliance requirements of each platform. Some companies have also rolled back their multi-cloud implementations 1 year or less into the production. It can also be challenging to build the skills and best practices for multi-cloud security.
5 multi-cloud tips
Multi-cloud implementations need to be well-planned. Here are some recommendations before laying out a multi-cloud strategy.
1) Select strategic partners
Choose a strategic provider for implementing your multi-cloud requirements. And ensure to run pilot projects with different cloud providers. This would help the team to cope up with the challenges of a multi-cloud environment.
2) Instruct business peers
Believing that cloud services are commodities, finance and sourcing organizations may try to pressure the business or IT to the cheapest service. CIOs must ensure that these leaders understand that a key value of cloud providers is their innovation and differentiation and that treating them like commodities will reduce business value.
3) Draft cloud policies
Craft a cloud computing policy that specifies what application workloads can be placed with cloud vendors, aligned to application type, application design and the application stack. This will go a long way to addressing the challenges associated with bolting on new features in new cloud environments.
4) Integrate and repeat
Work with your DevOps teams to develop skills for integration between applications and data sources that live on different cloud providers.
5) Think about the vendor ‘lock-in’ problem
Tactical applications do not usually benefit enough from cloud portability to warrant the development time and cost and may remain wed to one platform. But if some of your apps may require greater portability, you will want to leverage containers, such as Docker, Kubernetes orchestration or Cloud Foundry PaaS.
Conclusion
Multi cloud may provide some advantages, but CIOs need to perform a cost-benefit analysis and consider the myriad trade-offs. Or you can stick with one strategic partner — for now.
Each cloud provider offer different functionalities, but do you know how to choose them? Do you know if the multicloud would suit your business? Check out our cloud services and see how you can make the best use of cloud. Request a FREE demo today.