Multicloud: from one cloud to another without a storm warning for data security
Do we still need to introduce the cloud? Obviously not, since it has become a 'mainstream' concept, so to speak. However, it is still necessary to explain certain aspects of this technology, for the simple reason that it is multifaceted and continues to evolve.
While the very idea of entrusting data and software solutions to external or even foreign service providers (the famous question of sovereignty) has discouraged many companies, the cloud has responded to this challenge.
Service providers, now no less than the world's largest companies (Amazon, Microsoft, Google and others), have adapted their offerings in response to pressure from CIOs.
The concepts of IaaS, PaaS and SaaS have emerged. Then came hybrid or multicloud cloud management. Not easy to understand for the uninitiated.
What is the multicloud? How does it differ from the hybrid cloud, for example? What are its advantages and limitations?
Here are some answers.
What is the multicloud?
Definition
Multicloud is a strategy that involves using several cloud service providers, at least two, whether public or private.
A multicloud always includes clouds of the same type: only public or only private.
A recent study by 451 research (Demystifying Cloud Transformation) indicated that :
- 72% of companies surveyed use more than one cloud provider;
- 8% use three or more providers.
The objective is not so much a desire for optimisation, but rather a defensive strategy, a desire to use the cloud with maximum security.
As the cloud develops, and offers more and more proof of its reliability and resilience, multi-cloud strategies could have disappeared. But this has not been the case - quite the contrary.
The emergence of a very wide range of public cloud offerings, supported by large-scale, long-term players, has gradually reduced the reluctance of businesses. In the end, all that remained was the embarrassment of choice, and the possibility of using several suppliers, even for the same solution.
The origins of the multicloud: initially, a quest for security
Consider your Internet service provider. Are you fully satisfied? Is the bandwidth sufficient for your needs? Do you experience saturation on certain days? Does it offer effective customer support in the event of a breakdown? Does it offer the best tariff? Optimum security for your data?
You've no doubt asked yourself these questions, and may have concluded that if you had the means, you would take out three subscriptions with three different providers. The idea is simple: to combine maximum benefits with maximum security.
That's the idea behind multicloud.
What's the difference between multicloud and hybrid cloud?
According to the same 451 research study, 57% of respondents said they were operating in hybrid cloud mode. The hybrid cloud is distinguished by the fact that it makes use of both the private cloud and the public cloud.
The hybrid cloud is often chosen to better manage internal workloads and quickly compensate for a peak in computing demand with the support of a public cloud.
💡 It should be noted that these two cloud managements are not mutually exclusive. It is entirely possible to opt for both hybrid cloud, and for several providers as part of the public part of the cloud.
Advantages and disadvantages of multi-cloud
Why this craze? The advantages of a multi-cloud strategy
We have already touched on some of the advantages of the multicloud for IT Departments. The main advantage is the security guaranteed by several service providers, in the event of disaster, breakdown or intrusion. But there are others too:
- greater freedom with regard to the supplier: they will be less tied commercially, less at the mercy of a change of policy or pricing in the offering;
- the ability to find the right cloud service for a particular business or technical need;
- Ease of complying with legal constraints: for example, when clouds are geographically located in different places, the storage of personal or sensitive data is less risky. They are less exposed to the same dangers (war, natural disaster, pandemic, etc.).
ℹ️ Using servers closer to where the data is used is also a good way of shortening any latency times, and therefore speeding up certain processes.
But where are the pitfalls? The limits of multi-cloud
Is a multi-cloud strategy the ideal answer to every need? If so, it would be a panacea for all IT Departments.
But there are still a few drawbacks, not necessarily insurmountable, that put the brakes on its use. In surveys of IT Departments, they point to :
- an increase in security risks
- problems of interoperability between environments
- associated supervision difficulties.
In addition, the use of different types of cloud or different cloud offerings requires multiple skills to manage them;
Yet IT Departments often wish, quite rightly, to concentrate their efforts on developing applications in-house, or on other more productive (and more rewarding) tasks for the business. So why mobilise additional human resources to manage several clouds?
Towards outsourced multi-cloud management?
Multicloud trends
As a logical consequence of the difficulties outlined above, businesses are increasingly turning to cloud managers. As part of a multi-cloud strategy, they will be looking to expert managed service providers for technical skills to help them make the transition to the cloud as smoothly as possible.
According to a survey by Markess by exægis published in June 2019, Multi-cloud, hybrid cloud and managed services: approaches, trends & challenges to 2021, 38% of IT managers want to invest in a cloud management platform.
What does the future hold for multi-cloud?
While it was fashionable a few years ago to design your own cloud environment, it is now more common to consume the cloud than to build it. Even large companies (key accounts) do not necessarily have the multiple skills required for such architectures.
It is also worth noting that the skills required are not limited to the technical aspects, which are certainly complex. You need to be able to organise and arbitrate on other points, such as financial and legal considerations.
This is why we are seeing the emergence of functions specifically dedicated not just to multi-cloud, but to the management of diversified cloud environments. This is the case of the Cloud Financial Manager, who must be able to direct certain applications towards service providers with a view to optimising costs. Similarly, they will need to have serious legal skills, to untangle the intricacies of contracts, sometimes drawn up under different jurisdictions.
Multicloud may be booming, but it will only reach its golden age with the arrival, hypothetically, of a harmonised technical, legal and commercial offering. One day perhaps.
Article translated from French