When to go to multi-cloud and when not to
CRAIG PILKENTON
VP, Technical Delivery
For enterprises using cloud services across multiple geographies or for disparate workloads, finding just one public cloud infrastructure provider to meet critical needs may be a struggle. With some large or complex IT organizations this could mean their essential strategy is to bridge multiple public clouds. But what is the best option?
A multi-cloud strategy refers to the strategic decision of an organization to split their public cloud spend and usage between more than one infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) vendor such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, or Google Cloud. Many enterprise adopters of public cloud services use multiple providers for different service to provide network diversity and instant switch for Disaster Recovery / Business Continuity alternatives. A recent Gartner survey of public cloud users showed that 81% of respondents said they are working with two or more providers. By optimizing, they can take advantage of what is already being paid for.
Most organizations adopt a multi-cloud strategy to avoid cloud vendor lock-in, or to take advantage of best-of-breed solutions that may exist in only one of the providers. This has them splitting computing workloads between each cloud provider. These workloads can vary from data warehouses pushed into one cloud where developed applications or partner interactions are developed in another, all based on which toolsets fit best and can best be supported by the organization.
While many organizations go down that path, there are also those that only focus their investment capital in a single cloud vendor’s technology stack. Some find it hard to justify the effort and cost of working with several cloud providers, as well as it is wise not to jump straight from On-Premises to multi-vendor cloud deployments. With the nuances between platforms and their available services, choosing one cloud platform to start allows time for staff to develop their skills and learn how to manage the cloud with a well-planned strategic path, versus in a catch-up mode.
Whether your organization has been utilizing the cloud for years, or getting ready to start evaluating workload migrations, constantly evaluating what is best for your cloud provider needs is necessary to keep up with contemporary architectures or even to leapfrog in the industry as a thought leader. Working with your stakeholders to see what their workload needs are and evaluating what different cloud providers can support the enterprise with will allow the business to stay ahead of a need in a scalable and economical manner, as opposed to being in a race to catch up.
https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/why-organizations-choose-a-multicloud-strategy
