Businesses increasingly rely on cloud computing to drive digital transformation, many are adopting multi-cloud strategies to enhance flexibility, scalability, and resilience. Multi-cloud means that an organization is leveraging more than one cloud services provider for workload, data, and application deployment optimization.
However, as it was mentioned, this strategy has its own advantages and disadvantages. This article provides an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of multi-cloud and provides the reader guidelines on how to proceed with multi-cloud deployment.
Multi-cloud initiatives refer to the use of services from multiple cloud vendors – AWS, Azure, GCP and others- instead of a single provider. It allows businesses to select service offerings most suitable for their requirements, escape the vendor lock-in effect, as well as improve organizational effectiveness.
Flexibility and Scalability: The main benefit of a multi-cloud strategy is the reliability of the implementation of varying cloud models with each cloud service provider. Organizations can choose those cloud services that meet their needs and can either increase or decrease the number of resources used. For example, AWS can be used by a retail firm such as Target for data analytics when there are large volumes of customers, while the firm uses Azure for internal functions to avoid resource wastage.
Avoiding Vendor Lock-In: Relying solely on one cloud provider can lead to vendor lock-in, limiting a company’s ability to switch services or negotiate better terms. This risk is avoided by adopting the multi-cloud strategy. For instance, Netflix uses AWS to power the streaming of videos but has also come up with its own, open-source software belonging to this category, known as Eureka, to manage service discovery to ensure that they adopt different providers and be flexible.
Enhanced Resilience and Reliability: Multi-cloud strategies improve business continuity by reducing the risk of outages. Organizations can leave their data at more than one cloud provider so that if the cloud provider that is hosting their data is down, then the workloads are moved to the next hosting server. For instance, Dropbox, recently adopted multi-cloud to improve the availability of its services to clients.
Cost Optimization: Different cloud providers offer various pricing models and features, enabling organizations to optimize costs. For example, Snapchat has been relying on Google Cloud to store its data because the cloud giant offered lower prices compared to AWS, but Snapchat has been relying on AWS for compute-related tasks because the company offered the best prices for that workload.
Access to Best-of-Breed Services: Each cloud provider is good in some aspects or other. For instance, we have IBM Cloud with outstanding performances in incorporating AI in its Cloud solution through Watson while Microsoft Azure is simply a good platform for integration with productivity tools.
Complexity in Management: Managing multiple cloud environments can be complex and may require specialized skills. Several Organizations for instance IBM have noted that it is very difficult to achieve and maintain visibility and control over the various platforms within an organization and this needs to be managed by a special team for governance.
Increased Security Risks: Each cloud provider has its security protocols, which can create vulnerabilities if not managed correctly. For instance, Capital One last year suffered a massive exposure to a multi-cloud misconfigured security setting that underlines the importance of the security layer.
Data Transfer Costs: Data migration from one cloud provider to another costs a lot of money. For example, Sony had issues with data transfer fees when migrating workloads between AWS and Azure to underline the importance of planning when it comes to data.
Integration Challenges: One of the common technical issues of application and service integration of cloud involves cross-cloud platforms. Coca-Cola, for instance, has had to invest in middleware to come up with an effective integration of its various cloud applications.
Define Clear Objectives: It is important for organizations to set specific goals for their multi-cloud use. For instance, a financial institution’s objective could be oriented towards increasing data security and regulations through the utilization of multiple cloud providers.
Evaluate Providers Thoroughly: To avoid cases where businesses enter wrong contracts with the cloud providers, the following assessment must be first carried out.
Implement Governance and Compliance Policies: There is a need for more top-level frameworks and policies to ensure that organizations achieve the right level of compliance when it comes to the protection of their data.
Invest in Training and Skill Development: The IT department of companies should also ensure they spend on training and staff development. For instance, Salesforce has created endless training for its employees to ensure they are well informed about the current practice of multi-cloud management.
Utilize Cloud Management Tools: Leveraging cloud management platforms can streamline the monitoring of multiple cloud environments.
Multi-cloud approaches are gradually gaining the attention of businesses since they create possibilities to be more versatile, protected and cost-effective regarding cloud initiatives. The advantages of a multi-cloud strategy are notable. However, employing multiple clouds has its drawbacks, so businesses must consider the complexities of multi-environment management. Adhering to the best practice and making a comprehensive analysis to understand their cloud requirement can help the organization to adopt a multi-cloud strategy effectively to foster innovation and achieve organizational objectives.