There is no denying the fact that hybrid clouds have become one of the prominent topics of discussion within the technology industry. Since the hybrid cloud structure is all about mixing public and private cloud platforms to do an organization’s bidding, it has become the backbone of data strategy and operational processes within organizations.
By using a mix of the two cloud platforms, businesses can gain an additional level of flexibility within their day to day operations. While hybrid might seem like it is here to stay, it’s not the only cloud trend which is doing the rounds of tech circles. Multi-Cloud strategies are also trending high on the grapevine, as more than 79% of companies have already started using this concept. As the hybrid cloud concept is setting the pace, the multi-cloud model is racing its close competitor.
As the name suggests, the term ‘multi-cloud’ refers to the use of multiple cloud vendors across the business’s architecture, thereby allowing businesses to spread their workloads into different environments. This way, companies can obtain the best of both worlds, along with agility and flexibility. Keeping the balance between public and private cloud helps achieve the perfect equilibrium between business agility and cost efficiency. Such benefits of adopting a multi-cloud strategy within your enterprise include:
Better Options with Greater Resiliency
There are a series of providers; Amazon’s AWS rides high on its cost-effectiveness, Microsoft Azure offers a robust enterprise presence, while Google’s GCP is best in the field of analytics. With multi-cloud in place, an enterprise can benefit immensely from all of these factors, so that you can choose the cloud platform which best suits your needs. Mix and match the best combination, so that the enterprise is not restricted to one cloud provider for all its data storage needs.
No Vendor Lock-In
Ideally, in a multi-cloud arrangement, you are never spoiled for choices. Simply put, if one vendor increases their prices, or wants to stop their services, you always have an option to use another vendor’s services. This way, there is no dependency on one cloud provider for their services. In other words, one should not place all their service eggs in one cloud basket.
Security Enhancement
A Distributed Denial of Service or DDoS attack can impact several computers at the same time, especially when it causes a denial of services to the owners and users. If all your enterprise’s resources are powered by one single cloud, which falls prey to such DDoS attacks, chances are your firm will take a significant hit and end up with massive financial losses. Security is enhanced within a multi-cloud approach, as each cloud service provider provides its security systems, which can handle the load of the fallen cloud servers.
Expense Reduction
Expense reduction is a rather simple economic concept; as the services are spread over a few cloud service providers, enterprises can gain a competitive advantage while availing services. To make their services available to a higher number of businesses, service providers often try to reduce their prices to make their services user-friendly.
Challenges Within Multi-Cloud Implementation
There is no denying the fact that the application of a multi-cloud structure comes with its own set of challenges and issues. Deploying the services of multiple cloud vendors is not an easy task, as it is not easy to combine the functions of various cloud vendors under one roof.
Each service provider brings its own set of pros and cons, which make it difficult to combine their services. During the implementation stage, it is essential to understand the exact location where the data is stored, how this data source needs to be merged with the new platforms, and what difficulties can be incurred during the implementation stage.
Most of the times, enterprises lack the budgets for this implementation. Private platforms come with their own expensive set of services, which act as inhibitors for the users; however, as the cloud continues to evolve, there are a lot of changes in the technological horizon. With this thought in mind, multi-cloud has emerged as the preferred choice for most businesses, since it provides great agility and cost-effectiveness.
Also Read
The Differences Between Cloud and On-Premises Computing
Best Practices for Using DevOps in the Cloud
The Challenges of Multi-Cloud Environments
Top 5 DevOps Trends to Watch Out for in 2019