In an era of digital transformation, IT departments are at the epicenter of a critical balancing act. The ever-increasing demand for cost-effectiveness and the relentless scrutiny of capital expenditure (capex) investments to modernize data centers and equipment have turned their decisions into uphill battles. Within this landscape, multi-cloud and hybrid cloud strategies come into play, offering a spectrum of opportunities and challenges.
However, these terms are often used interchangeably, contributing to the complexity and confusion surrounding them. This blog guides you through the intricacies of multi-cloud and hybrid-cloud strategies, shedding light on their differences and emphasizing why grasping these distinctions is crucial.
It’s vital to acknowledge the seismic shift in IT spending that Gartner forecasts in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has accelerated the transition to the cloud, with projections indicating that the cloud will constitute a remarkable 14.2% of the total global enterprise IT spending market by 2024, marking a substantial surge from the 9.1% share recorded in 2020.
What is a Hybrid Cloud?
A hybrid cloud combines on-premises Infrastructure, private cloud, and public cloud services into a unified framework. This adaptable configuration caters to diverse requirements, incorporating private assets and various applications. It seeks to strike a balance between varying variables, from resource usage to compatibility with legacy applications. Notably, hybrid cloud computing often strikes the perfect equilibrium between the advantages of modern cloud technology and the practical constraints of cloud capabilities, mainly when high-performance computing is a concern. It offers a phased approach to public cloud adoption, allowing organizations to transition based on legacy hardware, proprietary data, and other factors.
What is Multi-Cloud?
Multi-cloud is a cloud computing approach that harnesses the strengths of multiple cloud providers to implement a solution. The unique demands of workloads, business needs, and data governance primarily guide this strategy. A well-structured multi-cloud solution combines Platform as a Service (PaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS) within a tightly or loosely connected framework. Cloud providers simplify the design and deployment of multi-cloud solutions by abstracting the intricacies of technology layers that require specialized knowledge, such as networking.
Demystifying Multi-Cloud and Hybrid Cloud
A multi-cloud strategy involves using two or more platforms for cloud computing or providers to handle various business functions. For instance, a company might employ AWS for specific tasks, Google Cloud Platform for another set of operations, and Microsoft Azure for another set. The complexity of a multi-cloud approach can vary depending on the number of clouds involved and how the organization utilizes each cloud resource or service. For instance, a business might use a public cloud provider’s IaaS to host workloads while relying on specialized SaaS or PaaS providers for specific business services like productivity tools (e.g., Office 365), employee expense tracking and reporting (e.g., Concur), with each service residing in its respective cloud.
Although both multi-cloud and hybrid cloud involves integrating multiple cloud environments, their core distinction lies in the types of cloud infrastructures they encompass.
A hybrid cloud seamlessly combines two or more distinct types of clouds, effectively merging private and public clouds to facilitate the fluid movement of data and applications between the two cloud environments. Organizations often choose a hybrid cloud strategy to meet specific business requirements, such as regulatory compliance, data sovereignty, optimizing on-premises technology investments, or addressing latency concerns.
In contrast, a multi-cloud strategy integrates various clouds of the same type, similar to combining different versions of a single type. It offers flexibility and risk mitigation, allowing organizations to select services from different cloud providers tailored to specific tasks or take advantage of services offered by a particular cloud provider in a specific location. Multi-cloud networking empowers organizations to engage multiple vendors for various workloads. Consequently, in the event of price hikes or service outages by one vendor, businesses can seamlessly transition to an alternative provider without incurring substantial expenses.
Multi-Cloud vs. Hybrid Cloud – At a Glance
Multi-Cloud
Combines on-premises infrastructure, private cloud, and public cloud services into a unified framework.
Augments existing data center hardware with public cloud resources.
Example: Hosting SQL databases locally for enhanced security while running an Azure Web Apps e-commerce website.
Hybrid Cloud
Combines two or more clouds, public or private.
Allows independent operation of each public cloud.
It can involve connectivity between multiple public cloud services and a private cloud.
Example: Hosting customer-facing SAP applications on Microsoft Azure while relying on Google Cloud for big data and predictive analytics workloads.
Multi-Cloud
Combines on-premises infrastructure, private cloud, and public cloud services into a unified framework.
Augments existing data center hardware with public cloud resources.
Example: Hosting SQL databases locally for enhanced security while running an Azure Web Apps e-commerce website.
Hybrid Cloud
Combines two or more clouds, public or private.
Allows independent operation of each public cloud.
It can involve connectivity between multiple public cloud services and a private cloud.
Example: Hosting customer-facing SAP applications on Microsoft Azure while relying on Google Cloud for big data and predictive analytics workloads.
Advantages Multi-Cloud
• Diverse Services: Leverage specialized offerings from multiple cloud providers.
• Scalability and Latency: Distribute workloads for flexible scaling and reduced latency.
• Mitigated Operational Risks: Decrease dependence on single vendors or on-premises systems.
• Regulatory Compliance: Safeguard sensitive data with compliant providers.
• Future-Ready: Ensure access to ongoing innovation and top-tier resources.
Advantages Hybrid Cloud
• Enhanced Agility: Optimize resource allocation, provisioning, and management with an interconnected platform.
• Legacy Revival: Modernize on-premises Infrastructure, migrate securely, and rejuvenate legacy applications.
• Streamlined Ecosystem: Simplify the management of data, resources, and workloads for centralized visibility and control.
• Heightened Security: Establish consistent security and compliance practices with unified management and threat monitoring.
• Accelerated Tech: Reduce development cycles and deployment times and release risks through streamlined infrastructure management.
Crafting Your Cloud Mix
When deciding between hybrid and multi-cloud strategies, several key questions should guide your selection:
1. Current Environment:
What blend of hybrid and multi-cloud environments does your organization currently support?
2. Future Alignment:
What mixture best aligns with your long-term strategic goals and digital transformation objectives?
3. Unified or Independent Operations:
Do you intend to operate each Platform independently, or are you considering a unified operations approach for seamless orchestration?
The primary focus in traditional cloud adoption scenarios is migrating workloads to a single cloud provider. However, in the realm of hybrid and multi-cloud, the paradigm shifts. This multi-platform cloud services model transcends the limitations of a single on-premises environment, embracing a distributed architecture that spans on-premises, multi-cloud, and edge computing.
As a result, rationalization decisions expand, and migration goals become more versatile. Organizations now have the flexibility to retain workloads on-premises, replatform workloads to multiple cloud platforms, or rehost them with portability that ensures smooth transitions across hosting environments.
The overarching change lies in planning for unified operations, which offers diverse deployment options, reduces dependencies on specific workloads, and enables flexibility in deploying workloads to on-premises and public cloud environments.
Designing a Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Strategy:
Once you have a clear vision, you can elaborate on the strategy:
Conduct an Initial Workload Assessment
Identify planned and existing workloads that could benefit from deployment or migration to the public cloud, aligning with your strategic goals.
Identify Applicable Patterns and Topologies
Based on the workload assessment, identify patterns and topologies that suit your goals.
Refine Selections
If multiple patterns and topologies apply, refine your workload selection to settle on a single pattern and topology.
Prioritize Workloads
Given the requirements, take an iterative approach to prioritize workloads based on your strategy.
Select an Initial Workload
Choose a workload that is not business-critical but suitable for migration, serving as a blueprint for future deployments or migrations.
Prepare for Migration
As you select a migration workload, initiate preparations on the cloud provider’s side.
Set up the necessary cloud organization, projects, and policies, and establish network topology and connectivity between the cloud environment and your private computing resources.
Make the Most of Cloud Technology with Nsight
Nsight Cloud experts are here to guide you in making informed decisions and expanding your cloud strategy effectively. With a wealth of experience, our experts have a successful track record of helping clients implement their cloud strategy and facilitating its expansion. Whether you’re considering a hybrid or multi-cloud approach, our team is ready to provide the expertise you need to navigate the complexities of cloud adoption. Let’s take your cloud journey to the next level and ensure your business harnesses the full potential of cloud technologies. Contact us today to get started on your cloud transformation journey.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
A multi-cloud solution involves implementing multiple cloud services from different providers to meet diverse IT requirements, often combining public, private, or hybrid clouds.
Examples of multi-cloud usage include running critical applications on one cloud provider while using another for backup and disaster recovery.
A multi-cloud strategy provides the flexibility to manage your applications, enabling direct control over factors like cost, uptime, latency, and downtime—each of which plays a crucial role in enhancing the customer experience. From an enterprise perspective, this approach helps you steer clear of vendor lock-in, enabling you to pinpoint the cloud products and services that deliver maximum value. The benefits of a multi-cloud strategy include improved redundancy, flexibility, cost optimization, and reduced vendor lock-in.
Yes, if a hybrid cloud deployment includes multiple public cloud providers, it can also be considered a multi-cloud deployment. The terms are sometimes used interchangeably.
The choice of which workloads to place in specific cloud environments is crucial for the success of a hybrid and multi-cloud strategy. Proper workload placement maximizes benefits and learning about each environment.
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About the Author
Rakesh Nakka, a seasoned Practice Leader in Infrastructure, Security & Cloud, brings over 19 years of expertise in steering industry-leading operations. He adeptly leverages modern design patterns and next-gen technologies to ensure secure, seamless, and scalable system access.
With a strong advisory background, Rakesh excels in driving business innovation, workplace modernization, and long-term cost control through strategic cloud initiatives.
