Multi-cloud is an important concept. Yet some end users may think, “I have a hard enough time with one cloud. Why would I want multiple?” It is an excellent question and rather than writing a lengthy treatise, I wanted to summarize 5 reasons to consider a multi-cloud strategy.
Functionality
Not all clouds have the same features. Some might offer more robust analytics, databases or other similar cloud services. As you create your multi-cloud strategy you should think about the strengths and weaknesses of the various cloud providers and consider using different clouds for different workloads. This best-of-breed approach can help optimize cloud performance and cost.
Cost
While the cost of cloud computing continues to decline, different vendors charge different rates. For example some vendors force specific configurations while others provide flexibility. You can find similar pricing differences for cloud object storage where vendors charge varying API rates and some charge nothing at all.
In short, to optimize multi-cloud, you should think about the cost of the services that you want to consume and compare them across clouds. While you may not choose the lowest price offering, it is important to understand the options. You should also remember that pricing can change over time.
Having a presence in multiple clouds can also help with future cloud pricing negotiations since it provides more vendor leverage.
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Availability
Cloud providers typically provide strong availability profiles both within regions and across regions. However, for ultimate availability, a multi-cloud offering can provide an additional benefit. Since hackers typically focus attacks on specific cloud providers, spreading your workloads across clouds can help mitigate these disruptions. For example, a couple of years ago a large scale attack resulted in significant outages in two Amazon regions. A multi-cloud strategy would have prevented this.
Application Compatibility
While all clouds can support virtually all workloads, some are better optimized for certain applications. For example, if you focus on SQL, you might want to look closely at Azure or conversely, Oracle Cloud could be a good option if you are focused primarily on Oracle. This is not to say that other clouds do not support these applications, but rather you should consider application support when choosing a cloud provider.
Geography
New rules such as GDPR put a premium on data sovereignty, and a key factor in choosing a cloud provider is understanding how they align with your data requirements. Multi-cloud can be critical for these regulations since not all cloud providers offer presence in all geographies. Hence, you might want to choose a specific cloud provider in a region where they have a strong footprint and an alternate one in another.
In summary, a multi-cloud strategy can provide significant business benefits. However, one of the challenges is moving data between clouds especially since the providers offer limited cross-migration tools. Actifio provides solutions to automate the movement of data between clouds and provides a cornerstone for many companies’ multi-cloud strategies.
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