Cloud Cover: Why Enterprises are Investing in Hybrid and Multi-cloud Solutions
- With increasing emphasis on remote work, companies are shifting toward a flexible working model and investing in hybrid and multi-cloud solutions
- While hybrid cloud provides cost savings, multi-cloud gives organizations the flexibility to work with multiple vendors and avoid vendor lock-ins
- The migration to hybrid cloud has led to organizations preferring a pay as per consumption or a subscription-based model
May 23, 2022 | IT & Telecom
While migration to the cloud was already a trend before the pandemic, the increasing emphasis on remote work has accelerated it. Though offices across the globe are slowly opening, the fear of another COVID outbreak looms large and companies seem ready to adopt a hybrid and flexible working model. As a result, they are increasingly investing in flexible cloud environments, particularly, hybrid and multi-cloud.
The rise of hybrid and multi-cloud
Hybrid cloud typically refers to the combination of public and private cloud infrastructure. Multi-cloud, on the other hand, is the deployment of more than one cloud solution of the same type (public or private) but sourced from different vendors.
With acceleration in digital transformation, hybrid cloud infrastructure solutions and multi-cloud solutions are gaining prominence because businesses do not want to rely on just one type of cloud solution when their requirements might change down the road.
For organizations still unsure about how to maintain business operations and meet new challenges with the cloud, hybrid cloud solutions have come as the right solution for managing legacy systems.
Hybrid cloud has now become a dominant IT model, more so because of the cost-saving opportunities it provides.
While the costs of data storage and archival, disaster recovery storage costs are less compared to on-premises model, cloud resources can also be paid for, based on utility.
Hybrid cloud not only offers off-site backup of critical on-premises data without the need for a secondary site but also makes for a perfect solution for large MNCs that have to comply with data storage regulatory requirements of storing data in the same country.
Multi-cloud, on the other hand, prevents vendor lock-in and possibility of increased costs of working with a single vendor. With multi-cloud solutions, organizations can adopt industry-best technologies from any vendor, without limiting customers to functionality a single vendor offers.
With increasing emphasis on remote work, efficiency and pressures to reduce costs, Fortune 500 companies are viewing hybrid and multi-cloud solutions as critical to success, with many planning to revise their cloud solutions.
Shifting trends in cloud procurement practices
With the adoption of hybrid and multi-cloud, there have been several changes in the way services are billed. The migration to hybrid cloud has led to organizations preferring a pay as per consumption or a subscription-based model.
Some organizations view their cloud costs like a utility and are moving away from a flat monthly fee. While there are pros and cons of each billing method, the cost effectiveness of the per usage model needs to be evaluated carefully as the flat fee may be more effective in the long run, depending on usage.
Open-source solutions are also gaining prominence in the cloud environment. The trend is moving toward combining open source and open governance with the hybrid cloud model.
Even with the adoption of hybrid cloud, security remains a concern and companies are combining best practices across cloud and on-premises solutions. They are working with managed services providers for security needs and establishing zero-trust policies and solutions. Some organizations are also merging DevOps best practices with on-premises strengths like network-based visibility.
It is also interesting to note that multi-cloud and hybrid cloud can exist together, with most enterprise hybrid clouds being hybrid multi-cloud, where companies have public or private cloud services from more than two vendors.
Conclusion
With more focus on flexibility between remote and hybrid working, companies will continue to strategically invest in hybrid and multi-cloud. The focus would be on finding the right mix of cloud and on-premises technology with the flexibility to adjust workloads as per business requirements.
References:
https://www.redhat.com/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-is-multicloud
https://www.techtarget.com/searchitchannel/feature/service-providers-predict-2022-technology-trends
https://www.unitedprivatecloud.com/blog/5-private-cloud-trends-in-2022-that-will-pay-off
