How can businesses combat the complexity of multi-cloud?
What is multi-cloud complexity, how to deal with it?
The multi-cloud approach, which is mostly preferred by large-scale enterprises with its cost control, security, regulations, more technology needs and other advantages, challenges businesses operationally with the complexity it creates. In this article, we as Global IT we compile 5 ways to deal with complexity, which is considered the most important disadvantage of the multi-cloud approach.
The early 2000s were a turning point in terms of cloud technologies. In 2006, around the same time that Google introduced its first cloud service, Amazon Web Services (AWS) was released. Let’s go through the next process a little faster and come to 2020, when the global pandemic has moved digital transformation forward perhaps 10 years, and the cloud has become a business imperative. Remote working has become the new norm, digital transformation initiatives that began in the 2010s have entered the last corner, and with the proliferation of technologies such as artificial intelligence and the internet of things, multi-cloud and hybrid cloud have become the standard for many industries.
According to Gartner, a provider of technology-driven research, many organizations today are adopting a multi-cloud strategy to minimize service provider dependency or to better leverage more modular, best-of-breed solutions. The biggest handicap of multi-cloud infrastructures, which are preferred with their advantages such as high availability, uninterrupted processes, flexibility and cost control, is the complexity it reveals.
In this article, we have discussed in detail what multi-cloud is, its advantages and disadvantages that envisage using more than one cloud service provider for a common system. In this article, we will first define the complexity that is seen as the biggest operational challenge among the disadvantages. Next, we’ll compile 5 ways to combat this multicloud complexity.
What is multi-cloud complexity?
Multi-cloud complexity is the challenge faced by businesses adopting multicloud solutions and leveraging the services of multiple cloud providers to operate their services. Cloud complexity dramatically complicates operations teams, and when not managed correctly, it can even get in the way of innovation.
Because multi-cloud platforms require platform-specific regulations used in each application deployment process. On the other hand, using different cloud platforms together also increases security risks. Multi-cloud complexity makes it difficult to maintain visibility, performance, and security at scale, and it means developer teams can manage and monitor complex, diverse, and multi-cloud ecosystems with diverse toolsets. Virtana A survey conducted by the research contains strong references to both multicloud adoption and the complexity this strategy creates.
- According to the survey, 82% of respondents say they have adopted a multi-cloud strategy, while 78% say they have migrated their workloads to more than three public cloud providers.
- More than half (51%) of respondents plan to increase the number of public cloud platforms they operate on this year.
- 34% say they plan to use 5 or more cloud platforms.
- 63% of survey respondents say their organization uses at least five separate tools for migration, cloud cost optimization, integrated performance monitoring, application performance management, and cloud infrastructure monitoring.
- An 83% respondent base says they manually combine data from these tools.
David Linthicum, an expert and thought leader in the cloud industry, says in an article published in InfoWorld that the results of the research prove that multicloud complexity is a real problem. According to Linthicum, more attention needs to be paid to understanding the complexity of migration before, during, or after multi-cloud deployments. On the other hand, the author concludes that it is essential to integrate operational tools into hybrid cloud strategies. According to Linthicum, businesses need some additional planning to avoid complexity before adopting a multi-cloud strategy.
Expert opinion: David Linthicum
David Linthicum offers the following advice for businesses that don’t want multi-cloud complexity to hinder their business processes:
- You can’t tackle architectural complexity by making things more complicated. Yes, working with only one public cloud provider can make things difficult, but before moving to multi-cloud, expect to find a cross-cloud solution for operational requirements such as security management, performance observability, process orchestration, and data management.
- If your current architecture is in a mess, you won’t be able to make systems work better in multi-cloud. If you have poorly designed systems in your corporate data center, don’t expect a miracle to happen when you move them to the public cloud. You’ll need to fix any issues before or during migration. Otherwise, your operational problems will remain the same or risk getting worse.
- Don’t forget to plan how you’ll run your multi-cloud. If you don’t plan properly and develop a logical solution that meets operational requirements, complexity is inevitable.
How to combat multi-cloud complexity
The way to minimize the effects of multi-cloud complexity is through proper planning, proper management, and effective solutions to operational needs. At this point, ways to combat this mess can be summarized under five headings:
- Unified management structure: Developing a unified management structure to keep pace with the growing number of cloud resources spanning multiple providers is critical. In this respect, it is necessary to regularly check the current status of cloud resources and service configurations.
- Data management with artificial intelligence and machine learning: Rather than doing multi-cloud management manually, technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning can help combat complexity. High technologies that can learn to accurately filter data from monitoring and control systems over time are strengthening the hand of businesses in terms of data governance.
- Talent management: Adopting a multi-cloud strategy is also increasing the need for skilled software developers, DevOps engineers, and systems architects who specialize in the systems of different cloud providers. It becomes important to hire knowledgeable and experienced professionals to avoid complexity. If the talented workforce cannot be found in this field due to the conditions, it may be preferred that the consultants who provide training on this subject provide training to the existing IT personnel.
- Security management: Systems that become more difficult to control with the adoption of a multi-cloud strategy can become more complex with even small attacks on infrastructures that are more vulnerable to threats. At this point, measures such as understanding the security options of different providers and keeping critical data on private cloud platforms can be taken.
- Visibility: When it comes to managing multi-cloud complexity, more attention needs to be paid to the concepts of visibility and transparency. Visibility, which can be defined as knowing which workload is running on which cloud platform and having insight into the operational performance of critical workloads, provides the opportunity to identify vulnerabilities and is critical to the success of the strategy.
Share your problems with Global IT, meet multi-cloud complexity solutions
Since 2006, many things have changed in how businesses approach the cloud. Organizations have learned to adapt the new possibilities offered by technology to their business systems, and cloud technology has evolved into a discipline with an end-to-end jargon and theory. Although multi-cloud is one of the newest concepts in this discipline, it is being rapidly adopted and the business world continues to learn multi-cloud. While it seems inevitable that complexity will increase as workloads grow, today one of the ways to overcome these problems is to work with a strong technology partner.
At this point, Global IT can respond to all cloud-oriented needs of businesses. Global IT, which has been specializing in Google Cloud solutions for 16 years; Hepsiburada, Getir, Trendyol, n11 provide support to Turkey’s leading brands in the retail sector in terms of cloud migration and cloud modernization.
With more than 500 customers, more than 3,300 completed projects, and more than 87,500 users moved to the cloud, Global IT enables companies to develop their businesses with cloud-based next-generation technologies, and is ready to position itself as a reliable partner in your digital transformation with its product portfolio that includes services and Google Cloud solutions ranging from e-commerce modernization to disaster recovery, from artificial intelligence to cloud check-up, from security solutions to data cloud solutions.
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