Cloud computing has completely changed the IT sector by providing many benefits like agility, cost-effectiveness, and access to state-of-the-art hardware. Two prominent models in this circumstance are the hybrid cloud and multi-cloud. However, what are these? And how do they differ from one another?
Multi-cloud refers to an organization using multiple public cloud vendors and services from different providers to access resources and capabilities. In contrast, a hybrid architecture finds the best possible balance between scalability and security controls by combining one or more public clouds with at least one private cloud solution.
What is Multi-Cloud?
Using two or more cloud computing platforms or vendors to manage different business functions is a multi-cloud technology approach. Any multi-cloud strategy’s ultimate objective is to match each public cloud’s unique strengths with the needs of the business.
A company using cloud applications hosted by different third-party providers may use Amazon Web Services (AWS) for some work or host specific applications; Google Cloud Platform for another set of chores, apps, and data; Microsoft Azure for still other tasks; and so on.
A multi-cloud strategy may be extensive and intricate, contingent upon the number of clouds and how an organization employs each cloud resource or service. For instance, a company may use the IaaS offered by a public cloud provider to house its workloads.
Simultaneously, it might leverage specialist SaaS or PaaS providers for business services, where each service is hosted on its cloud, such as employee expense management and reporting (Concur Expense), and productivity tools (Microsoft 365).
Advantages of Multi-Cloud
Why then take on something so complicated? There are several strong arguments for a company to investigate a multi-cloud strategy, such as the following:
1. Prevents cloud provider lock-in
Any contemporary business can become vulnerable if it depends too much on a third-party service provider. A business partnership may become challenging due to changes in expenses, services, support, and other aspects, necessitating an expensive and disruptive need for change.
By working with different public cloud providers, internal staff can proficiently use numerous clouds and potentially reduce business relationship interruptions.
2. Cost Management
Irrespective of its purpose, local infrastructure necessitates a capital investment. Pay-as-you-go cloud resources and services are available, with prices varying according to basic usage.
While some cloud services charge based on consumption or regular monthly costs, SaaS platforms, for instance, may charge based on the number of users (seats). Businesses can observe that money is spent efficiently because suppliers have thoroughly documented these charges.
3. Innovative Approach
Since each cloud is distinct, it offers some advantages and services that rival providers might not. A firm can take advantage of the advantages of various cloud providers by employing a multi-cloud strategy, compared to having to decide between utilizing the special capabilities of one cloud provider and another.
4. Enhanced compliance
The foundation of compliance and business continuity is that an organization must continue to operate and stay safe in the face of disruption. A company may set up a redundant workload across two or more clouds to improve resilience and manage increased application traffic. The other cloud can keep running and maintain the workload even if one goes down.
Challenges of Multi-Cloud
A multi-cloud strategy involves more than just juggling services, resources, and outside suppliers. Businesses that adopt a multi-cloud environment may encounter various new dangers and difficulties that are uncommon with on-premises technology, such as the following:
1. Network Security
Sensitive corporate data will inevitably travel across a public network, like the Internet, when workloads and data are stored in clouds. Companies need to take extra care to protect all data connected to the cloud by using encryption, which is suitable for both data in transit and at rest.
2. Interruptions caused by the provider
An organization must plan and consider the consequences of network and provider outages. Recognize the repercussions of a provider hack, a hostile attack on the provider, the discontinuation of essential services, and even the consequences of a provider merger, acquisition, or bankruptcy. Finding a different acceptable cloud provider or bringing the service back in-house might be required.
3. Regulations
While multi-cloud approaches can improve compliance in areas like workload resilience, other risks to regulatory compliance include incorrect data storage locations, violations of data sovereignty laws, or insufficiently secured cloud data.
4. Complexity of security
Managing various security configurations and authentication methods is necessary to guarantee user security and the security of sensitive data when dealing with diverse cloud providers and environments. It might not be possible to set up a uniform security configuration or process for each cloud service provider. Additionally, there can be a greater chance of security flaws in environments with several clouds.
What is a Hybrid Cloud?
To integrate the finest features of local and cloud enterprise computing, a hybrid cloud technology approach combines a private cloud, on-premises infrastructure, or both with a public cloud environment.
A company may decide to host a significant cloud-native application locally or establish a private cloud to facilitate software developers’ self-service resource provisioning. To access additional resources or specialized services offered only by the public cloud provider, the business can link its private cloud to one of the offerings.
Advantages of Hybrid Cloud
You may select which on-premises data and application workloads to move to the cloud using hybrid cloud infrastructures, which have a significant financial benefit. Hybrid cloud infrastructures when implemented effectively, can decrease costs, improve IT efficiency, and shorten the time it takes for new goods and services to reach the market.
1. Agility
Adopting a hybrid cloud strategy has several benefits, the main being agility. Organizations must be able to evolve swiftly and seize opportunities to spur growth. Whether computer resources are kept in a multi-tenant data center on-site by a major public cloud provider or are stored in an on-premises data center, hybrid cloud helps agility by quickly delivering those resources.
A hybrid cloud architecture improves the speed at which IT resources are delivered, which keeps enterprises adaptable. In contrast to traditional IT settings, which may need months to construct and deploy the additional physical gear required for data storage, hybrid cloud solutions can provide cloud storage capabilities in minutes.
2. Reliability
Businesses of all sizes worry about business continuity, or being able to continue essential operations in an emergency. Disaster recovery (DR), which focuses on recovering data access and IT infrastructure following a disaster whether a natural disaster disrupts network connectivity or a military attack—is a component of business continuity planning.
3. Flexibility
Companies choose hybrid cloud strategies because they offer greater flexibility and control over the distribution of data and resources, resulting in a greater number of deployment alternatives.
For example, by storing workloads containing sensitive data in a private cloud environment, an organization can maintain control over sensitive data (such as intellectual property, personally identifiable information (PII), and medical records). Some workloads, such as those connected to mobile apps and devices, are frequently more appropriate for deployment in public clouds.
4. Security
Containers or encrypted application programming interfaces (APIs) that transport data between cloud computing services or cloud services and on-premises applications choreograph the migration of resources and workloads across hybrid cloud architecture. Implementing security features like encryption, automation, access control, and endpoint data security is made easy by this unified management solution.
Challenges of Hybrid Cloud
Businesses must weigh the advantages of the hybrid cloud against its disadvantages when determining how best to employ this cutting-edge IT paradigm.
1. Complex Technical Aspects of Hybrid Cloud
Enterprises are moving their workloads and apps into a hybrid multi-cloud environment, which makes integration and administration increasingly difficult. It is said that businesses today use up to 10 different clouds, which makes data synchronization, seamless integration, and robust security across several environments a constant issue.
A well-defined hybrid cloud strategy centered on a single hybrid cloud platform architecture that offers a fabric of cloud services is necessary to overcome the complexity of hybrid clouds.
2. Execution of Hybrid Cloud
Starting with a hybrid cloud architecture can be expensive in startup costs and design. Organizations must carefully assess their business needs before pursuing a hybrid cloud implementation strategy, and they should collaborate with a public cloud service provider or supplier to convert those needs into the most effective hybrid cloud implementation strategy.
3. Vendor Management of Hybrid Cloud
Various vendor services must be managed in hybrid multi-cloud settings. A typical enterprise firm uses many clouds in addition to various vendor-related SaaS applications, storage capacities, and other services and products. IT leaders need insight across a single integrated platform to manage cloud-related expenses and oversee resource allocations while managing multi-vendor services.
Hybrid cloud observability platforms and technologies help organizations get around problems with visibility. By offering a single, integrated platform with real-time monitoring features that dismantle silos, these cloud management solutions improve visibility and control. Teams can identify problems like delays brought on by increased data volume or resource sharing by monitoring the performance, availability, and health of their IT infrastructure components.
4. Visibility of Hybrid Cloud
DevSecOps (development, security, and operations) teams may find it challenging to get a complete picture of all the systems, apps, and processes that span multiple clouds (private and public), software as a service (SaaS) apps, and apps and data operating in IoT and edge computing environments in a complex hybrid multi-cloud environment.
Choosing Multi-Cloud or Hybrid Cloud: Key Scenarios
While grasping theoretical ideas is essential, seeing how these models function in actual situations is critical. To tackle this, we will look at certain use cases for hybrid and multi-cloud systems and investigate the circumstances in which each architecture can be useful.
Before delving into Netflix’s hybrid cloud architecture, let us examine how Spotify has employed a multi-cloud strategy. These illustrations provide insightful information about how companies can choose the right cloud model based on their needs and objectives.
Multi-Cloud Scenario: Spotify
Spotify adopted a multi-cloud strategy to enhance its scalability, robustness, and performance in the music streaming market. The company decided to minimize expenses, increase functionality, and lessen the likelihood of service disruptions. Spotify effectively lowered costs by 60% while improving overall performance with its multi-cloud approach by leveraging several public cloud service providers for different areas.
Hybrid Cloud Scenario: Netflix
On the other hand, Netflix, a prominent player in the streaming industry, has chosen to improve its offerings through a hybrid cloud strategy. The company maintains on-premises infrastructure for content generation and processing and uses public cloud resources like Amazon Web Services (AWS) for streaming.
Wrapping Up
A company’s unique needs and infrastructure will determine whether to choose a hybrid cloud or multi-cloud architecture in 2024. Although utilizing several providers allows for flexibility and innovation, multi-cloud deployments provide challenges concerning security, compliance, and vendor management.
However, there are difficulties in vendor cooperation and technological integration when merging on-premises infrastructure with public cloud resources. In contrast, hybrid cloud solutions offer increased security, agility, and dependability.
Businesses can gain from Azure DevOps consulting to manage these complications successfully. Organizations can guarantee effective deployment across multi-cloud or hybrid environments, expedite development, and enhance collaboration by utilizing Azure DevOps.
By including Azure DevOps consultancy in their cloud strategy, companies may minimize risks and optimize the advantages of their selected architecture, allowing for a more seamless transfer and continued maintenance.
