In the dynamic world of cloud computing, the multi-cloud strategy is the new favourite on the block. It is favoured by its approach to use not only one single cloud provider service but rather a collection of multiple cloud providers to provide the required service. But why is it that this approach grows to dominate the cloud computing market? Let’s inspect some of the reasons.
Multi-Cloud Flexibility and scalability
This approach offers the best flexibility as a multi-cloud allows the businesses to create a custom-tailored cloud server solution, utilising the best service that each cloud provider has to offer. The flexibility can be extended to scaling as well. As the business grows with time, there can be an increased demand for cloud resources. Using multi-cloud, the process is not a challenge at all, and it is simple to implement. The ideal cloud resources grow with the growing success of the business.
Risk mitigation
As dealing with a single cloud service provider is risky as the provider is at fault for an outage, disaster or failure, the multi-cloud solution offers more reliability. By distributing the resources through a variety of cloud providers, one can decrease the risk of total service loss, keeping the service up and going. Uptime is crucial to any business, and in such a case, multi-cloud is an ideal solution.
Competitive leverage
Lastly, the price matters the most. The usage of multi-cloud cannot only be as cost-effective as using the service of one, but the competitive aspect of all cloud service providers makes it the best solution. Businesses can leverage and renegotiate with confidence, and the service providers will have to accommodate to the best price and terms.
So, in conclusion, the unpredictable behemoth that is multi-cloud can be very beneficial to the companies utilising it.
The move to a hybrid
The biggest benefit that we get from the multi-cloud strategy is the ability to choose the best-of-breed services from multiple providers involved. These providers have their own strengths, and it is only beneficial for companies to make use of those strengths. As a result, they can use the best of their services for storage, computing, analytics, and so forth, making their IT infrastructure more optimized and resilient. It is especially useful for data sovereignty, too, as different countries have different laws concerning data storage and processing. Using several cloud providers, businesses can make sure that their data is stored in such a way that does not conflict with the local law .
Challenges of the Multi-Cloud Strategy
There are certainly some challenges to the multi-cloud approach, too. First of all, working with multiple cloud service providers is naturally more complicated than using only one set of services. It requires a higher level of expertise on behalf of the IT specialists, as well as makes security and compliance issues more complicated. Still, as practice shows, these challenges can be managed, and the benefits that the multi-cloud strategy offers can be fully enjoyed by the companies that choose to implement it.
How can businesses manage security in a multi-cloud environment?
Securing the multi-cloud involves a combination of strategies that make sure that the data, applications and the infrastructure of an organization that are hosted in different cloud platforms are not accessed by unauthorized individuals. Here are steps that can be taken to manage security:
- Security Strategy: A multi-cloud that comprises more than one CSP requires a robust security strategy. This demands that the different security mechanisms, compliance and threat landscapes of the different clouds should be understood. Risks associated with each platform should be analyzed, and the relevant controls implemented to address them.
- Security at the Source: It is important to incorporate security measures at the source level of multi-cloud. This means that starting with the very first piece of code, multi-cloud products should be certified and secured throughout their lifecycle.
- Network Security: This is a measure which is primarily geared towards protecting service availability. Network security should ensure that services of cloud entities are not easily infiltrated thereby making them ‘down’.
- Permissions Management: Managing multi-cloud includes control of who has access to the infrastructure. Doing so ensures that no unauthorized user may use the system and potentially cause information breaches.
- Use of CSPM Solutions: CSPM solutions and tools can help in the proactive identification and remediation of issues that may pose a risk to your multi-cloud environments. This tool provides real-time security, benefiting all the operating clouds.
- Runtime Protection: At the runtime, it is vital to ensure that your cloud infrastructure is safeguarded from threats of all kinds. This calls for the use of Cloud Workload protection solutions that ensure active scanning for observable threats.
- Centralized Visibility: A standardized view of the security health of the applications, user capability and the readiness of environments should be implemented. This ensures that the multi-cloud is periodically monitored for security threats of any kind.
- Use of Security Tools: Tools include the deployment of firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention systems and security information and event management systems across multiple-cloud.
Conclusions
The move to multi-cloud certainly seems to be the future of cloud computing. It is natural for this sphere, as it is still quite young, and such fundamental changes are to be expected. Still, they are introducing a new level of flexibility and scalability th that is so urgently needed by the businesses nowadays.