To ace the game in the business market, the foremost requirement is to be updated with all the data management technologies. One of those technologies is the Multi-Cloud system.
The market is saturated with numerous cloud computing vendors. There are businesses that are adamant to stick to the single cloud environment, but today the smart move would be to update your whole system in Multi-Cloud.
Multicloud is defined as the use of two or more clouds provided by different cloud vendors. It can be an emulsion of software as a service, infrastructure as a service, or platform as a service (SaaS, IaaS, Paas) different clouds, and distinctive qualities that are suitable for a certain type of workload. When you choose a multi-cloud environment, you basically are assigning suitable clouds for each set of requirements.
The question arises, why opt for Multicloud? The working of a company is built by putting together various departments. Each department has a group of people who are best suited for that kind of work. This way, you are employing a task-specific workforce that reaps top results. The Multi-cloud system works similarly, i.e., you can benefit from the unique capabilities of different cloud providers without actually relying on or shifting to a single cloud, which is a tedious task. A Multi-cloud environment also reduces the disaster damage situation to a great extent. If task-specific workloads are deployed to one cloud provider, in case of an outage, all your data goes down with it. In contrast, this is not the case with a Multi-cloud environment. To build an effective and successful Multi-cloud strategy, there are various aspects that need to be focused on, which are:
1. Reason the purpose of each cloud deployment In your business, while employing a Multi-cloud environment, be specific with the rationale of doing so. Each cloud deployed should have a specific purpose according to the requirements of your business infrastructure. For example, you can use one cloud server for emails regarding one supplier, one cloud server for retail and transactions purposes and another for storing data. What-so-ever be the employment reason, you must be well-versed with how each cloud deployment is helping our business to achieve mission-critical tasks. Also, there is no such sine qua non of assigning independent cloud servers to different purposes. Lay down the requirements of your project and if it is seen that the project needs more than one cloud, design your cloud strategy accordingly.
2. Layout a plan of action for the transfer of data between cloud servers The transfer of data from one cloud to another is a complicated, tedious and ridiculously long process. There will always be a need to transfer data amidst different cloud servers. The Multi-cloud strategy of your enterprise must address the issue of data transfer to another cloud. The strategy must include the duration of data transferring, the type of data to transfer and the concatenation of the data transfer between cloud servers. And the basic process, as always, testing the data transfer system in a trial run with test data.
3. Standardise the Multi-cloud strategy While building a Multi-cloud strategy, remember to standardise all its aspects. While working on it, design it to be compatible with Open Virtualization Format (OVF) for virtual machines, enterprise Kubernetes for containers etc. If your Multi-cloud is standardised, you can be assured of effortless cloud functioning. Also, it facilitates the process of data transfer between different clouds.
4. Obviate vendor lockin Vendor lockin is a common problem while running a cloud server. This means that your business’s data is so dependent on a single cloud provider that it becomes almost impossible to change cloud servers or shift to another one. But with a Multi-cloud environment, this problem can be averted. There is still the need to be vigilant and smart towards the integration process and cloud deployments in your system to prevent vendor lock-in. Once you build a triumphant multiple cloud strategy, your business will possess the ability of project designing with open data formats backed by every cloud environment.
5. Requirement of expertise to manage a Multicloud environment Even while using a single cloud system, the business requires a team of professionals who are learned about the methods of using it. So, if you start using a multi-cloud environment, there is an obvious increase in the need for experts to manage multiple cloud servers. If the already working professionals are potentially working with one kind of cloud, you cannot immediately shift to another completely different one before employing more experts. Every cloud is distinct and requires thorough knowledge to be employed. So, a professional versed with one cloud either needs to be trained for another one, or new experts need to be hired for the same. Multi-Cloud environments are becoming popular each day because of the increasing number of enterprises adopting this method. A Multi-cloud environment facilitates both startups and established businesses to benefit from its features. A successful Multi-cloud system requires a streamline of intensive research and the complete knowledge of the business requirements. E2E cloud solutions are designed to maintain an equilibrium between the business-specific requirements and cloud usage. For example – CPU Intensive cloud for High-performance computing, High Memory Cloud for more significant RAM size requirements, Large Disc Cloud for Data-intensive applications, and High Disc Space.