- The two types of multi-cloud solutions are multi-cloud and hybrid cloud, and while the solutions are similar and the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, they are different platforms, each with its own advantages and challenges.
- Cloud computing is the provision of computing services over the Internet (the “cloud”), including servers, storage, databases, data governance, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence to provide faster innovation, flexible resources, and economies of scale.
- Multi-cloud means multiple cloud solutions, and in a hybrid solution, private cloud and public cloud or cloud are used together making it a subset of multi-cloud.
Migration trend to the cloud
Businesses are moving to the cloud. 67% of enterprise workloads run on public and private cloud implementations. Despite this trend towards cloud migration, it is rare for enterprises to deploy 100% of their applications in the cloud, let alone all of them to a single cloud. For the foreseeable future, a mix of on-premises and cloud deployments will be the norm.
In addition, applications and data sources that migrate to the cloud remain part of a larger enterprise ecosystem, where they need to integrate with other systems and processes both in the cloud and on-premises, and therefore cannot be isolated. Because of this, 85% of organisations see hybrid cloud as strategic and practical for their data and analytics platforms. A hybrid multi-cloud strategy is the best way to manage these distributed heterogeneous data ecosystems.
Hybrid cloud and multi-cloud
Companies often decide to expand beyond their own data centres and use public and private clouds to handle different tasks, such as data storage. Multi-cloud computing and hybrid cloud computing, while they can handle similar tasks, are not the same thing. Below is a brief definition of each type.
Multi-cloud involves the use of multiple public cloud computing services from different cloud providers to meet specific business needs and customer needs. Public clouds include Microsoft Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud Platform.
Different cloud providers may offer expertise and performance in different areas, such as data analytics and storage, enhanced security, and support for various applications. Companies often hire two or more public cloud companies (multi-cloud computing) so they can take full advantage of public goods.
A hybrid cloud is a hybrid computing environment that integrates infrastructure in a public cloud with an organisation’s private cloud or on-premises data centre.
In a hybrid cloud scenario, companies keep some data in their own traditional data centres or private clouds and combine that data with a public cloud.
Also read: Who invented cloud computing?
Benefits of a hybrid multi-cloud strategy for organisations
There are three key reasons why a hybrid multi-cloud strategy is important for organisations:
Data gravity: Data is born in many different contexts; Some were born in AWS, some were born in Azure, some were born in the data centre. It’s more efficient for businesses to process data as close to the source as possible. The larger the amount of data, the more applications, services, and other data it attracts, and the faster it can be mapped. Therefore, it is advantageous for enterprises to use a single data management platform that can operate in all environments where the data comes from to take advantage of the data physics. A single data management platform across multiple cloud providers prevents lock-in and helps to run differentiated workloads on the right cloud platform. A set of data management and analytics tools are integrated in a single platform to cost-effectively deliver complex, multiple use cases, reducing total cost of ownership.
Control: You must be able to choose the right infrastructure environment for the job. For example, if you want to optimise for agility and experimentation, it’s best to do so using a temporary public cloud infrastructure. However, as proof-of-concept matures into mission-critical applications running at scale, it is best to bring the application back to the data centre, where costs can be significantly reduced. This flexibility helps meet regulatory needs and compliance requirements
Future-oriented: We live in an ever-changing world; In the IT space, much of this change is driven by the scramble for cloud infrastructure, such as Amazon, Microsoft, Google, IBM. A side effect of this battle is that large enterprises tend to change their cloud strategy frequently; The old boss wanted AWS, the new boss wanted Microsoft. Perhaps in a few years, your private cloud will be mature enough to reduce the relevance of your public cloud needs to certain workloads.
It is prudent to choose a single data management platform that is not subject to cloud infrastructure competition and can reduce infrastructure costs and resource costs for building new applications. This ability to move instantly – to arbitrage on the cloud – eliminates the need to put yourself at an economic disadvantage. We advise against embedding yourself deeply into the walled garden of any single cloud provider, as this strategy may make it more difficult to protect your investment.
Multi-cloud vs. Hybrid cloud: Which is right for your business?
Here are some considerations to help you decide between multi-cloud and hybrid cloud.
A multi-cloud deployment may be the right solution for you if:
You need more flexibility and redundancy. Multi-cloud deployments can provide resilience and redundancy by distributing workloads across multiple cloud providers. The volume of outages at the cloud provider can be redirected to other cloud providers, ensuring that downtime and outages are kept to a minimum.
You want to optimise costs over time. Multi-cloud deployments can help organisations optimise their cloud costs by selecting the most cost-effective cloud provider for each workload. Different cloud providers have different pricing models and cost structures, so by choosing the right provider for each workload, organisations can save money and improve ROI.
You want to improve data sovereignty and compliance. Multi-cloud deployments can help organisations meet data sovereignty and compliance requirements by selecting cloud providers that provide data residency in a specific region and comply with relevant regulations. By leveraging multiple cloud providers, organisations can ensure that their data is stored and processed in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
Your organisation has different needs for speed, demand, or traffic. Depending on your needs, you can scale up or down a multi-cloud system. Hybrid cloud systems can be more challenging.
Your users (employees and customers) are distributed globally. Having a geographically dispersed workforce or customer base means that multi-cloud solutions that are distributed across multiple geographies are likely to be more effective.
Examples of companies that have successfully used multi-cloud solutions: Trintech
Software as a Service (SaaS) provider Trintech found that partnering with multiple cloud service providers proved to be a smart move. According to Fortune, the company has been able to enter the market at a lower price or scale up at a better price by selecting the best supplier for a specific need. The company helps enterprises and mid-market companies automate and improve efficiency, discovering the advantages of the flexibility and operational costs of the public cloud.
Also read: Blue Planet launches first multi-cloud native OSS platform
A hybrid cloud solution may be better for you in the following situations:
You want to focus on agility: The main advantage of the hybrid cloud is agility: organisations can scale up and down computing resources as needed, and choose where to handle workloads based on requirements for data security or workload sensitivity. Organisations can migrate and manage workloads between cloud environments to optimise processing flexibility, cost, and control based on specific business or regulatory requirements.
You need to meet regulatory or compliance requirements. Certain regulations or compliance requirements may require companies to use a specific cloud provider or store data in a specific geographic location (for example, the data residency provisions of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR). Multi-cloud allows businesses to meet these requirements while still taking advantage of the benefits of cloud computing.
Your organisation wants better control over commonly used or sensitive data. Organisations often choose to store frequently accessed data or sensitive data in a private cloud or on-premises storage to ensure better control and security, although this may require more up-front investment in infrastructure. Less frequently accessed data can be stored in the public cloud.
Your company needs near-real-time information exchange. Although multi-cloud deployments can achieve very low latency to meet the needs of most workloads.
