Since its introduction cloud-computing has fast become part of not only businesses every day but, everyone’s day today. So, it really should be no surprise that we are now discussing multi-cloud operations. The question we’re asking today is will these complex operations help or hinder business?
The benefits to multi-cloud strategies are simple; performance optimization, budget-saving, reduce the risk of DDoS attacks and avoiding vendor lockdown, just to name a few. Not every department or business function has the same requirements, therefore, using different cloud platforms allow their various data and application needs to be met. However, if you asked CIO to provide details on internal and external cloud layers used by the company and answer can vary significantly.
For those smaller operations, they may only use two or three cloud providers. Such as Google for its users in the United States and Azure for European users. For larger companies, however, the cloud operations are a complex web of data and services. With interlinking data flow, some even from cloud to cloud.
Alongside, the clear benefits mentioned above there are equivalent challenges. Such as; cost, expertise, resources, complex management, just to name a few. Managing and monitoring these ecosystems is a real challenge for CIOs today. Due to this, we have seen an increase in the adoption of management fabric systems. These management programs span multiple cloud systems to give the user a detailed understanding of their data architecture.
Examples of this are; MapR’s Global Data Fabric and Pivotal Cloud Foundry. I don’t need to tell you what an expense this multi-cloud operations amounts to, let alone the need for a management program to run them all. It is, therefore, important to choose the right cloud providers for your business to generate revenue.
It is clear to see the advantages of this multi-cloud approach however, there must be a disaster recovery plan in place to protect the company. When planning out your cloud operations we suggest visualizing it as a tree, each additional branch being another cloud system. The reason for this is, you must have a contingency plan for the interlinking cloud services that often rely on one cloud source. Everyone had to learn from the Amazon outage incident a couple of years ago, which really impacted on their SaaS services.
With the right fabric management and the right cloud services, many companies have seen a significant return of investment. Companies must also ensure they choose the most efficient app for their multi-cloud environment. Traditional apps can be inflexible and difficult to manage and scale. By utilizing the most appropriate cloud-native app you will ensure the most service-oriented outcome. We would also recommend automating low-level tasks within monitoring and maintenance. By applying a standard automating policy to all cloud services throughout the company, you reduce time spent on maintenance, human oversight and allow for seamless updates.
In conclusion, there are substantial benefits to multi-cloud operations as long as you have the strategies and systems in place to manage and maintain them. If you want to get this competitive advantage let us help you develop a strong architectural map with a well-crafted future management plan. From migration, security, change management and working progresses, our data integration consultants have a wealth of experience in this field.
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