Multicloud

What is Multicloud?

Multicloud is a strategy in cloud computing where organizations use a mix of private and public clouds to deliver application services. This approach can include combinations like various cloud providers, different cloud accounts, multiple availability zones, or different regions and premises.

For instance, a multicloud setup might feature:

• Two public Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) providers

• A public Platform as a Service (PaaS)

• On-demand management and security tools from public clouds

• A private cloud IaaS for key company systems

• A private Container as a Service (CaaS) stack on either public or private IaaS for both user-focused systems and cloud-native apps.

According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the types of cloud computing deployment models include:

Private Cloud: This infrastructure is for the exclusive use of a single organization and can involve multiple users. It can be owned and managed by either the organization itself, a third party, or a mix of both, and it can be located on or off the organization’s premises.

Public Cloud: This infrastructure is available for use by the general public and is typically managed by business, academic, or government entities, or a combination thereof, and exists on the provider's premises.

Hybrid Cloud: This model integrates two or more distinct cloud infrastructures (private or public) that remain separate entities but are linked through technology that allows for the portability of data and applications.

Key Advantages of Multicloud

Adopting a multicloud approach can bring significant advantages to an organization’s IT operations, enhancing agility and flexibility. Here are some key advantages:

• High Availability and Redundancy: Multicloud setups provide redundancy and safeguard an organization’s services and data from security threats and system outages. If one cloud service goes down, others can still run applications and serve users, ensuring continuous operation.

• Flexibility: With multicloud, organizations can choose the most suitable cloud services to meet their specific business needs, economic considerations, geographic locations, and timing. Typically, different clouds are used to manage data, infrastructure, and applications. By using multiple clouds, organizations can avoid becoming dependent on a single vendor, thus ensuring they can transfer applications and data as needed.

• Cost Efficiency: Multicloud allows organizations to better manage their finances by balancing capital and operational expenses and benefiting from the competitive pricing of public cloud services. Organizations can offer additional functionalities to their customers without the need to hire extra staff or spend time managing the service and its dependencies. Furthermore, by planning capacity allocation within a multicloud strategy, organizations can optimize costs according to specific service-level requirements and scalable needs.

• Enhanced Security: A multicloud strategy allows organizations to scale workloads while consistently applying security policies and regulatory compliance across different environments, ensuring comprehensive protection regardless of the cloud provider.

• Access to Innovative Technology: Cloud providers regularly introduce new products and services. Multicloud enables organizations to take advantage of emerging technologies, helping them enhance their offerings without being restricted to a single provider’s solutions.

5 Challenges of Multi-Cloud Environments

In the multi-cloud landscape, IT organizations are tasked with managing both legacy and new application architectures across various platforms, including public clouds, edge locations, co-location facilities, sovereign environments, and private data centers. Each cloud provider comes with its own set of operating systems, services, and tools, which limits interoperability and creates a fragmented ecosystem. This variability in cloud infrastructures and operational models puts additional pressure on IT teams, leads to decentralized services, and increases complexity and risk.

IT professionals and developers often encounter several key challenges in effectively implementing a multi-cloud strategy:

• 1. Lack of Consistent Infrastructure: The absence of a cohesive multi-cloud framework leads to siloed operations. This fragmentation makes it difficult for cloud operations teams to pivot quickly in response to evolving business requirements.

• 2. Evolving Application Landscape: To facilitate rapid deployment of new applications and features that drive digital business value, organizations must navigate the complexities of existing and emerging application architectures. This includes supporting DevSecOps practices while ensuring performance and availability across diverse cloud environments.

• 3. Management Inefficiencies: The inefficacy of management tools and infrastructure across different cloud platforms not only inflates costs but also exposes significant security vulnerabilities.

• 4. Networking and Security Concerns: Ensuring secure networking and application integrity across multiple clouds is inherently complex, which can lead to security gaps and increased exposure to risks.

• 5. Distributed Workforce: As more data and users operate outside the traditional network, organizations face challenges in providing flexibility and a seamless user experience without compromising security.

How to Get Ready for Multicloud Architecture

Given the extensive scope of a multicloud environment, organizations must thoroughly prepare for managing this complex reality when adopting or considering a cloud architecture.

• 1. Standardize Your Toolchain: Foster a unified toolchain by standardizing a base DevOps pipeline, application runtime cluster, and middleware stack that can serve most of your organization’s projects. Ensure that your tools are compatible with any cloud infrastructure, including legacy systems. Encourage the adoption of open-source services that are manageable across multiple clouds or those that organizations can manage independently.

• 2. Integrate Multiple Clouds: Ensure seamless connectivity between multiple cloud environments to facilitate pipeline automation, split application tiers, secure data replication for warehousing or distributed applications, and disaster recovery backups. Connected clouds support robust operational functionality and data integrity across the multicloud architecture.

• 3. Streamline Policy and Management: Employ cloud management platforms to enhance orchestration within and across various clouds. Standardize configuration and management through federated or global controllers. Use abstraction in provisioning models and APIs to streamline and simplify policy implementation.

• 4. Plan and Strategize Early: Develop a comprehensive and deliberate strategy for adopting a multicloud IT platform. Take the time to plan and align it with your organization's ideals. Avoid rushing the process, which might lead to uncoordinated service consumption by developers and limit future flexibility.

Working across multiple cloud environments allows organizations to maximize their Return on Investment (ROI) while mitigating risks associated with relying on a single cloud provider. A strategically managed multicloud platform provides significant flexibility, enhances business agility, and drives continued economic and operational advantages.

Multicloud Use Cases

Multicloud architecture opens up numerous possibilities for organizations to enhance service delivery to their customers. Here are some of the most common use cases:

Disaster Recovery: With multicloud, critical applications can be backed up across multiple providers. If one vendor experiences downtime or a disaster, other providers ensure business continuity without major disruptions.

Meeting Regional Compliance: Multicloud enables businesses to comply with region-specific regulations, allowing flexibility to switch between on-premises, private, and public cloud services from different vendors while maintaining compliance.

Mitigating Shadow IT: Multicloud deployments provide employees with approved cloud services, helping reduce the use of unauthorized apps or services that do not meet security standards or company policies.

Improved Global Latency: For businesses with a global presence, multicloud solutions allow access to servers in various locations, significantly improving connection quality and reducing latency for customers in different regions.