Consider these two shocking statistics: More than 85% of businesses have embraced multi-cloud, but only 20% have a defined cloud security strategy. The concept of combining the strengths of various cloud providers has significant potential, but there's a lot to consider before setting out on a multi-cloud journey. Continue reading as we unravel the most common challenges and discover how Alithya can help guide you through this intricate landscape.
What is multi-cloud?
Multi-cloud refers to a cloud strategy where an organization uses services and resources from multiple cloud providers. Instead of relying solely on a single cloud provider, multi-cloud architecture involves utilizing services from multiple public cloud platforms, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, and others.
The idea behind multi-cloud management is to avoid vendor lock-in and take advantage of the strengths and features offered by different cloud providers. This approach can provide increased flexibility, redundancy, and the ability to optimize costs by selecting the most appropriate cloud service for each specific task or workload.
The multi-cloud advantage
The appeal of a multi-cloud architecture lies in its ability to mitigate risks while offering flexibility and innovation. It's like assembling a team of superheroes, each with their distinct powers. By spreading digital assets across multiple clouds, businesses can reduce their chances of being affected by a single cloud provider's outage or security breach. This redundancy provides a safety net that ensures operations can continue to run smoothly.
Enterprises are also able to cherry-pick the best features from different cloud providers, creating a tailored environment that aligns with their needs.
Common hurdles
Embarking on a multi-cloud strategy undoubtedly brings its share of challenges. Here are some of the most common challenges we’ve seen businesses encounter:
- Security and Compliance: Security is a paramount concern in multi-cloud environments. Implementing a consistent security framework across different clouds, ensuring data privacy, and meeting regulatory requirements can be complex.
- Governance and Management: Managing user access, permissions, and governance across different clouds requires careful planning and coordination to avoid security breaches and data leaks.
- Cost: Multi-cloud strategies generally come with higher cost. Tracking expenses across multiple providers, optimizing resource allocation, and avoiding unexpected charges require some oversight.
- Staffing/Finding Resources: Operating in a multi-cloud environment demands a skilled workforce familiar with the intricacies of each cloud provider. Finding and retaining talent with expertise in various platforms can be a difficult task.
- Complexity and Integration: Managing multiple cloud providers means dealing with different interfaces, tools, and services. Integrating applications and data seamlessly across these diverse environments can be intricate and time-consuming.
- Network Latency: In a multi-cloud setup, data might traverse different networks, leading to latency issues that can impact application performance. This can be overcome with the right network design but requires careful planning.
- Change Management: Introducing a multi-cloud strategy requires a shift in organizational culture, processes, and workflows. Change management efforts are crucial to ensure a smooth transition.
Overcoming these challenges requires a carefully crafted strategy, teamwork with an experienced partner like Alithya, and the integration of innovative technology and tools to skillfully address the complexities of a multi-cloud landscape.
Putting the right tools in place
There are several tools that will help you craft a multi-cloud strategy.
Microsoft Azure
Azure provides hybrid and multi-cloud solutions cloud solutions that bring together innovation across on-premises, multi-cloud, and edge setups in a secure and smooth manner, all managed from a single interface. Some important applications to consider as part of the overall strategy are:
- Azure Arc: This tool simplifies the management, governance, and security of servers, Kubernetes clusters, and applications. It seamlessly spans across on-premises, multi-cloud, and edge environments through a unified control interface.
- Azure Defender: Offers advanced threat protection for Azure services, Azure Defender enhances security readiness.
- Azure Policy and Azure Blueprints: These features facilitate the enforcement of compliance and governance standards.
- Azure Security Center: This tool provides a centralized dashboard for monitoring security status and managing threats across various clouds.
- Azure DevOps: Used to plan, develop, test, and deploy software applications efficiently through continuous integration to various cloud environments beyond Azure
Note that these tools can extend beyond Azure to operate in various cloud contexts.
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) lets you combine cloud services from multiple clouds to optimize cost, functionality, and performance. OCI’s multicloud services help you modernize your databases and applications with unique capabilities, including Oracle’s Real Application Clusters (RAC) and Autonomous Database, paired with leading services from Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). OCI integration services facilitate your SaaS integration with other applications in real time. Some important applications to consider as part of the overall strategy are:
- Oracle Interconnect for Azure: Allows you to use Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) and Microsoft Azure with seamless interoperability.
- Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC): Can run a single Oracle Database across multiple servers in order to maximize availability and enable horizontal scalability, while accessing shared storage.
- Oracle Autonomous Database: Fully automated service that makes it easy for all organizations to develop and deploy application workloads, regardless of complexity, scale, or criticality.
- Oracle Exadata Database Service: An automated Oracle Database service that allows organizations to run databases with higher performance, availability, security, and cost effectiveness.
AWS
AWS hybrid cloud services deliver a consistent AWS experience wherever you need it – from the cloud, to on premises, and at the edge. You can select from a broad set of compute, networking, storage, security, identity, data integration, management, monitoring, and operations services to build hybrid architectures that meet your specific requirements and use cases. You can also use AWS Solutions for Hybrid and Multi-cloud to simplify and centralize the management of resources across hybrid and edge environments with resources on other clouds. Some important applications to consider as part of the overall strategy are:
- AWS Outposts: Allows you to run AWS infrastructure and services on premises for a consistent hybrid experience.
- AWS Storage Gateway: Delivers low-latency data access to on-premises applications while leveraging the agility, economics and security capabilities of AWS in the cloud.
- AWS Directory Service: Also known as AWS Managed Microsoft AD, this app activates your directory-aware workloads and AWS resources to use managed AD on AWS.
- VMWare Cloud on AWS: Accelerate your business transformation goals with a managed service that combines compute, network and storage capabilities in a fully supported, ready-to-run service from the creators of the software, VMware, and AWS.
The importance of a well-crafted roadmap
The intricate nature of multi-cloud management requires meticulous management to ensure data consistency, streamline access controls, and maintain compliance with industry regulations across platforms.
This is where a strategic roadmap comes into play. A well-crafted multi-cloud strategy ensures seamless data flow across clouds while prioritizing security and efficiency.
Enter Alithya – your partner to guide you through your multi-cloud journey.
Empowering multi-cloud with Alithya
Alithya brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to guide businesses through their multi-cloud journey, harnessing the capabilities of your selected provider(s). Here's how our expertise can make a difference:
- Comprehensive strategy development: Alithya helps businesses formulate a robust multi-cloud strategy to ensure a unified environment that aligns with organizational objectives.
- Platform-centric approach: Alithya's expertise ensures that businesses can maximize the potential of their chosen platform. Companies can achieve enhanced performance, scalability, and innovation.
- Seamless migration and integration: Alithya's experts facilitate smooth migration of applications and data to hybrid cloud environments, ensuring optimal functionality and minimal disruption. Seamless integration across multiple clouds is essential for maintaining consistent operations.
- Security and compliance: With multi-cloud environments, security and compliance are paramount. Alithya's specialists implement robust security measures, leveraging Azure's advanced security features to ensure data protection and regulatory adherence.
- Continuous optimization: Multi-cloud environments require ongoing monitoring and optimization. Alithya actively manages cloud deployments, optimizing resources, and ensuring cost-effectiveness while maintaining high performance.
The role of FinOps (financial operations) in cloud management
FinOps is a cloud financial management discipline that enables organizations to maximize the value of their cloud investments. FinOps achieves this objective by helping finance, engineering, business, and technology teams effectively collaborate on cloud cost decisions to drive business outcomes.
FinOps is first and foremost an organizational practice—a way to manage cloud costs with one set of policies and best practices, while ensuring all collaborators take ownership of their cloud usage. It facilitates collaboration between cross-functional teams to enable quicker product delivery, while obtaining cost predictability and financial control.
Embracing a multi-cloud strategy
Embracing a comprehensive multi-cloud strategy empowers businesses to stay ahead while ensuring flexibility and minimizing risks. With our expertise, you'll navigate the complexities of multi-cloud environments with confidence. Alithya is your trusted partner to unlock the potential of multi-cloud platforms, ensuring smooth integration, optimized operations, and heightened security. Trust Alithya to empower your journey towards a successful and resilient multi-cloud strategy.
Contact us to embark on your multi-cloud journey today.