To multi-cloud or not multi-cloud: What is your strategy?

written by Priscila BernardesAug 22, 2017 9:00:00 AM

Topics: Cloud Computing

With most businesses adopting a cloud computing service of some sort, the term multi-cloud is increasingly becoming popular in the world of technology.

Major cloud providers have been developing their own specialties, meaning businesses can decide on which cloud is right for them based on their primary business needs, causing many to reconsider their cloud strategies. 

In this post we discuss this new strategy, its advantages, disadvantages, and more importantly, what multi-cloud should mean for your business.

The New Strategy: 

Business leaders are now looking into the services offered by each cloud provider and going with the best of the bread for each of their needs. For example, when considering productivity and coolaboration Microsoft Office 365 suite of products become a no-brainer, whereas Amazon Web Services have a lot of infrastructure automation built in for specific workloads.  

Advantages: 

The advantages of this strategy include realising the benefits of different platforms and infrastructures for different needs or departments. Needless to say, the avoidance of vendor lock-in, which is followed by an improved IT performance,  as well as reduction on the consequences of data loss and downtime of cloud services (yes, the cloud does go down!). 

Another advantage of the multi-cloud computing strategy is that it helps to strengthen software vulnerabilities. A businesses application stack can be independent of cloud infrastructure, and not only does this reduce the level of commitment to one vendor, but it creates interoperability where workloads can be migrated to another platform quickly.  

Disadvantages: 

The disadvantages of the multi-cloud strategy is the time it takes to implement and manage the multi-cloud strategy.  

However, the competitive advantage of having tailored cloud solutions pays itself off 10-fold! 

Pro tip: There are management consoles that enable you to access your different cloud services through one window.  

 How You Should Begin: 

Like with everything, we recommend that you to dip your toes in the water before you jump in! Start by moving small chunks of information, and evaluate the situation. Our top tip? Have a strategy that looks at governance, platforms and infrastructure as well as applications and data.  

Like everything with cloud computing, it can be tricky waters to navigate. So don't be too shy to seek a trusted expert's opinion on what the right move for your organisation looks like.  

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About Priscila Bernardes

Passionate about relationship building, Priscila leads Lancom’s customer experience and growth initiatives. With an Executive MBA and a decade of IT experience, Priscila loves challenging the status quo and finding innovative ways to service our clients, while sharing what she is learning with the community.