Many IT and network administrators are becoming overwhelmed as their companies shift more resources to various public cloud providers. Each vendor has unique resources, customer needs, and rules, making multi-cloud management a complex task. This dynamic amalgamation of disparate environments often leads to chaos, instability, and spiraling costs. Despite these challenges, multi-cloud has become the standard for many businesses.
Handling cloud-based systems from various vendors is not always easy. Various IT experts find the term multi-cloud strategy confusing. However, several multi-cloud management platforms and tools are available, offering features like vendor lock-in avoidance, efficient resource management, and automated deployment and orchestration.
What is Multi-Cloud Management?
Multi-cloud is when an organization uses more than one cloud platform service for its different application needs. A multi-cloud strategy often combines a private and public cloud to fulfill the organization’s end goals, which vary from organization to organization. Multi-cloud management involves leveraging different available architectures, such as Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), to attain a complete business goal. Various cloud providers are selected based on the requirements of specific workloads/applications, ensuring flexibility and redundancy in cloud services.
Multi-cloud management platforms and multi-cloud data management are often used to manage this complex infrastructure. Multi-cloud is a strategy applied by CXOs and Technology Architects to allow enterprises to select the best cloud services or features from various providers. It enables companies to choose public, private, or hybrid cloud options and consolidate their multi-cloud approach to create a more customized plan.
Key Aspects of Multi-Cloud Management
Support for Containers: Support for containers is crucial for multi-cloud data management, as it ensures data consistency across multiple clouds. It also enables seamless migration of workloads across various cloud services. Key platforms include:
- AWS cloud security
- Azure cloud security
- Google Cloud Security
Technologies like Kubernetes play a vital role in facilitating interoperability among cloud services while addressing cloud security challenges.
Automation in Multi-Cloud Management: Automation is a vital aspect of managing multi-cloud environments, helping IT teams deploy, monitor, and secure systems efficiently. It simplifies complex processes while maintaining operational effectiveness. Automation enhances:
- Operational visibility
- Integration of cloud services
- Security posture
- Compliance with ongoing security and compliance standards
How does Multi-Cloud Management Work?
Cloud-native functions are architected to run in the distributed nature of modern cloud platforms like AWS and private clouds like OpenStack. Multi-cloud strategies include using both hybrid environments and multiple public cloud providers, such as AWS, Azure, and GCP, ensuring operational visibility and avoiding vendor lock-in. This eliminates the need for complete cloud migration, as sensitive data may remain on-premises.
Multi-cloud data management helps enterprises balance their cloud security architecture across different providers. Businesses often select one provider for IaaS and another for PaaS or SaaS to meet different functional needs, ensuring data consistency across multiple clouds and providing efficient resource management. Ongoing security and compliance are critical as enterprises look to improve their security posture with AWS security services, Azure cloud security, and Google cloud security practices.
Why Multi-Cloud Approach Matter?
Here’s why the multi-cloud approach matters:
- Avoiding Vendor Lock-In: Going multi-cloud removes the monopoly of a single cloud provider and mitigates vendor lock-in, offering more flexibility.
- Optimized Workload Management: Different applications have unique workload needs. A suitable cloud provider can be selected for each application, optimizing resource allocation.
- Enhanced Security: The multi-cloud management strategy offers diverse security precautions that a single cloud provider’s deployment cannot provide, enhancing cloud security posture.
- Compliance and Flexibility: A well-managed multi-cloud environment allows different teams to comply with various IT policies while leveraging the strengths of each cloud provider.
Benefits of Adopting a Multi-Cloud Strategy for Businesses
Multi-Cloud management benefits are listed below:
- Instant Infrastructure Setup: Cloud providers like AWS, GCP, and Azure allow instant infrastructure setup and teardown, promoting efficient resource management.
- Service Continuity: If one cloud goes offline, services from other clouds can be used, ensuring continuity and minimizing downtime.
- Customization and Flexibility: Multi-clouds are highly customizable and flexible, allowing businesses to select the best cloud types for their specific needs.
- Avoiding Vendor Lock-In: Adopting a multi-cloud strategy helps avoid vendor lock-in, as data is stored across different providers and locations.
Best Practices for Multi-Cloud Management
To ensure effective multi-cloud management, consider the following best practices:
- Security First: Security should be the primary concern when adopting a multi-cloud strategy. It’s essential to adopt both continuous and adaptive security measures across multiple clouds.
- Utilize Cloud Types: Leverage private cloud, public cloud, and hybrid cloud models based on business needs, ensuring flexibility and redundancy in cloud services.
- On-Premise to Cloud Connectivity: A multi-cloud setup helps in connecting on-premise applications to those running in the cloud, ensuring resource allocation across environments.
- Pipeline Automation: Connecting multiple clouds enables pipeline automation from development to production, streamlining operations.
- Redundancy and Protection: Leverage redundancy and protection features of modern cloud providers to safeguard all services and data storage against security threats, helping prevent outages.
- Backup Strategy: Keep backups of critical applications across multiple clouds to ensure uptime. If one cloud goes down, other providers will ensure continuous service and prevent downtime for users.
Top Multi-Cloud Management Tools to Simplify Workflow
BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management: With self-service capabilities and integration with common DevOps platforms, it is intended to simplify full-stack deployment. In the Forrester Wave for hybrid cloud management, it was called a “Strong Performer.”
Flexera (RightScale) Cloud Management Platform: RightScale, a pioneering provider of multi-cloud software solutions, was purchased by Flexera in late 2018. Flexera also offers RightScale’s approach as the Flexera Cloud Management Platform today (CMP).
HyperGrid: In June 2020, HyperGrid and iQuate merged to create CloudSphere, which provides a combined multi-cloud network for businesses to schedule cloud migrations and handle cloud costs and protection.
VMware CloudHealth: VMware acquired CloudHealth Technologies in 2018 and continues to sell the company’s multi-cloud control solutions under the name CloudHealth, whilst also strengthening integration with VMware items.
Managing Multi-Cloud Environments Effectively
With the widespread use of multiple cloud platforms, multi-cloud management becomes a challenge, especially when handling diverse applications and an expanding user base. In such a complex environment, multi-cloud management tools are essential to optimize the capabilities of each cloud platform while minimizing costs. These tools are also critical for ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements. As a result, companies are actively seeking solutions to enhance their cloud strategies, accelerating business operations and improving task execution.
