More and more organisations choose to use more than one provider for their cloud services. This is because there are multiple advantages to this – but there are also many pitfalls you’ll want to avoid. Multicloud is exactly what it sounds like: rather than simply choosing one provider of public cloud solutions to fit all company needs, multicloud means that you use a mix of XaaS services from two or more cloud providers, and divide the infrastructure and applications between them. This way, you as a company or organization can choose to adapt your cloud services based on flexibility, reliability, functionality and cost.
To most organizations, the “one size fits all” solutions from the giants in cloud technology are rarely the optimal choice for all parts of the business. However, it may be the right choice for a particular department or function, while more flexible solutions may be required for other departments or types of data.
Often, cloud storage of personal data and other classified or non-public data needs to be adapted to work in the Nordic region. Legislation such as the GDPR may require that data may not leave the borders of Sweden or the EU. Laws or policies on how to deal with the Cloud Act and solutions owned by US-based companies can govern how you plan and build the overall cloud solution of the company or organization.
Read more: U.S. CLOUD Act vs. GDPR.
Some cloud providers also work better in hybrid environments than others, where existing ground/on-premise environments must function hand in hand with cloud services, friction free. More options give a better ability to handle the various scenarios and needs that may arise.
A Multicloud strategy will also give you access to niched services and functions from smaller players. Services that the big providers either don’t offer or which they charge extra for as an add-on service. Often the big providers have a model with very low entry fees, but after some use the cost increases rapidly. It’s often a combination of data usage, functionality and add-on services that is behind this price increase. If you only have one provider these increases become difficult to tackle.
“Most organizations adopt a multicloud strategy out of a desire to avoid vendor lock-in or to take advantage of best-of-breed solutions,” Michael Warrilow, VP Analyst, Gartner in Why Organizations Choose a Multicloud Strategy.
A multicloud strategy is therefore almost always a more flexible, safer and financially viable option. In the Nordics, a multicloud and hybrid strategy is often entirely necessary in order to live up to data protection laws and policies.So even if the complexity increases and improved competence and a higher workload might be needed – it is difficult to argue against a multicloud strategy.
Using frends eiPaaS (enterprise integration Platform as a Service) is one way to quickly make the work of implementing a hybrid and multicloud strategy possible and simplified. Frends eiPaaS becomes the gear and tool that simultaneously separates and connects the various clouds, local data centres and all applications. Separation is crucial to maintain operational freedom and avoid lock-ins. Integration is essential to ensure that both IT and business processes work optimally. Frends makes it possible for data and applications to move between different clouds and environments. The complexity in always knowing which data is stored where, and how various applications and platforms interact and are integrated is handled and monitored with ease using frends.
Read more: frends hybrid
Conclusion
At the end of the workday, it’s all about the fact that the organization needs to use the most suitable environment for its features, tools and data. Companies that use a hybrid and multicloud strategy can optimize performance, make significant cost savings, and achieve meaningful advantages over the competition, in ways not possible with only one provider.
According to the report by Gartner “A small group of megavendors dominates public cloud markets, which restricts new entrants’ ability to compete. To maximize available cloud opportunity, technology general managers must embrace and invest in multicloud.” (Gartner report “Multicloud; Why it matters").