Cloud solutions have revolutionised the IT industry because they offer a lot of advantages over locally-hosted computing infrastructures. Therefore, it is no surprise that businesses have evolved their systems to allow them to migrate to a cloud environment.

A cloud-based strategy is far from perfect, however. All cloud computing vendors have, at some point failed, experienced major downtime, and/or been subject to massive DDoS attacks. Dealing with any of these scenarios would have a significant negative impact on any organisation. That’s why it’s time to consider a multi-cloud strategy.

What is a Multi-Cloud Strategy?

A multi-cloud strategy is an approach that utilises two or more cloud solution vendors. This approach may use major cloud providers Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services, or possibly an on-premise private cloud.

Advantages of having a multi-cloud strategy

Redundancy and Resiliency

The main purpose of transferring software infrastructure to the cloud is to take advantage of lower operational costs, as opposed to local maintenance. However, all major cloud computing providers have gone through major downtimes caused by internal problems and defects, as well as external malicious attacks. Putting your entire software infrastructure in the hands of a single cloud service vendor exposes you to potential time and service losses if that vendor suddenly goes offline.

The answer is to establish your infrastructure across two cloud service vendors in a redundant setup or a failover system. This ensures that your network will always be online 100% of the time, with traffic being rerouted from one vendor to another, depending on how your system was set up. Since there has been no history of two or more cloud computing providers experiencing attacks or downtime at the exact same time, a multi-cloud strategy guarantees your survivability from any of these unfortunate events.

Faster Service Delivery

Internet delivery is measured at the speed of light. Even a slightly better service delivery over another provider improves overall customer satisfaction. That is why, for many software implementations, reduced latency is a game-changer.

Adopting a multi-cloud service in which each service is closer to the targeted customer base will greatly address latency issues. Having two or more cloud vendors that individually serve US-based users, the EMEA Region and the APAC Region could improve latency and overall service delivery for your system and applications.

Easier Compliance with Government Regulations

With most countries now rigidly implementing laws on how the internet and online services affect their citizens, some compliance issues are bound to crop up when you try to do business in these countries. For instance, some governments impose restrictions on the transfer of personal data outside their region or country.

To comply with such issues, a multi-cloud strategy can see a local cloud vendor handle data storage, and a global provider host the rest of the cloud infrastructure. Thus, a multi-cloud approach can make the path to regulatory compliance less difficult.

Optimisation

Cloud computing providers have different strengths and weaknesses. One may offer a feature that would be very useful for your business, while another may implement security best practices that are critical in your industry. By adopting a multi-cloud strategy, your enterprise can take full advantage of each vendors’ strengths. This will optimise your system, giving you the best of what each vendor has to offer.

Cost Effectiveness

With your network infrastructure spread across multiple cloud platforms in a redundant architecture, you can easily migrate between two or more cloud vendors. Having this flexibility could enable you to take advantage of discounted rates should a cloud vendor offer to serve all your cloud computing needs. Your finance managers can also compare the costs versus services with various cloud providers, and then opt for the one that offers the best value for your money.

The downsides of multi-cloud

Adopting a multi-cloud platform for your organisation is not without its potential disadvantages, though.

Having to implement a software infrastructure across different platforms requires an IT team that is well versed in the intricacies of making different cloud platforms work together seamlessly as one unit.

In addition, cloud vendors may offer lower rates for higher volume subscriptions. Using a multi-cloud strategy may prevent you from availing yourself of reduced pricing schemes, as your cloud services may be spread across two or more cloud platforms, resulting in smaller usage.

In conclusion, having a system/software implementation on a multi-cloud platform is definitely a sound option as you expand your cloud environment. Before doing so, however, it’s imperative that you evaluate how your system is designed and how adaptable it is to a multi-cloud approach so that you can optimise this strategy for your organisation.