Previously, when businesses would seek to relocate their operations online, the method was quite simple: go with one cloud provider and be done with it. All information, applications, and processing capacity was transferred into the hands of a single tech powerhouse.
However, nowadays, going with one vendor at once will no longer work. Instead, businesses opt for a multi cloud strategy, deliberately distributing all the digital assets between several distinct cloud providers in order to create a flexible, resilient, and high-performing digital ecosystem.
To make sense of what this concept is all about, it might be helpful to explain what exactly it entails. The term “multi cloud” refers to the utilization of cloud services provided by two or more unique public providers (such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, GCP) simultaneously. If you’re new to the topic, you can first read our guide on What is Cloud Computing? Working, Service Models, & Business Transformation for a complete overview.
A multi-cloud environment is concerned with connecting several public clouds. It allows organizations to choose among various specialized services offered by different providers instead of opting for an inflexible package deal.
Big corporations are leaving single-cloud configurations behind, owing to a number of key business benefits:
In case a business is totally dependent on one vendor, it will become extremely hard and costly to switch. Splitting the workload will maintain leverage and the possibility of migration in the case of a price hike and feature limitation by a vendor.
Each cloud provider specializes in particular tasks. For example, a corporation might be using GCP to leverage advanced AI capabilities, Azure to deploy its Windows legacy applications smoothly, and AWS for global data storage.
Even the most powerful IT infrastructures have failures. Mirroring or replicating an application across two cloud vendors will guarantee that in case of failure of one of them, all new user requests will be directed to the other, thus eliminating downtime costs.
International firms need to keep up with shifting regulations, such as the GDPR in Europe. Countries may demand that certain pieces of user information be stored in their geographic region. This is solved effortlessly by a multi-cloud system, as the company can simply select the localized providers that have their own data center facilities in those geographic regions.
In summary, the World Wide Web is too complex a beast for one cloud provider alone. By adopting the multi-cloud model, companies are able to enhance their online presence in order to achieve maximum efficiency while protecting themselves from any possible disasters.