Does your organisation have a multi-cloud strategy?
Multi-cloud has become the norm for many Australian businesses, with Oracle reporting in February 2023 that 93% of Australian enterprises used multiple cloud environments. Many organisations use a multi-cloud strategy to back up data and reduce downtime. In this blog, I’ll focus on a slightly different angle: adopting a multi-cloud strategy to avoid vendor lock-in and use best-of-breed solutions.
Adopting a multi-cloud strategy enables your company to build a composable infrastructure by using the best features of different cloud providers. A composable enterprise uses modular components to build its tech stack, rather than use a few monolithic applications. It’s an approach that, when done properly, fosters flexible operations and optimises costs.
1. Avoid vendor lock-in
This occurs when a company relies on a single cloud service provider. As a result, the company becomes limited by that provider's functionalities and may miss out on the benefits of other cloud services. The organisation may also lose opportunities to innovate and grow the business. A multi-cloud strategy prevents vendor lock-in by distributing workloads across multiple providers, enabling a much easier capability to change vendors and ensuring that your business isn’t reliant on the alignment of your needs with a vendor.
By leveraging the strengths of various cloud platforms, your organisation can optimise costs, enhance operational resilience, and maintain the flexibility to innovate and adapt to changing business requirements. Additionally, a multi-cloud environment supports better negotiation leverage with providers so that you can attain more competitive pricing and terms.
2. Combine the strengths of different cloud providers
Each cloud provider offers unique capabilities. For example, one provider might show better performance in certain capabilities while another will have more favourable pricing. A multi-cloud strategy allows your organisation to select best-of-breed solutions tailored to your needs. Using multiple providers lets your organisation leverage various services to maximise performance and innovation across your business. As such, you can adapt to a changing market and take advantage of the latest advancements without the restrictions of a single provider.
3. Optimise cloud usage and costs
Cloud providers offer varying pricing models, allowing your business to choose the most cost-effective options for different workloads. By strategically distributing workloads among multiple clouds, your organisation can take advantage of lower costs for specific services and avoid overpaying for redundant capabilities. Gartner forecast that Australian organisations will spend $23.2 billion on public cloud services in 2024, up 19.3 per cent from 2023. This significant increase accentuates the importance of optimising cloud expenditure.
With a multi-cloud strategy, your business can implement cost-saving measures such as auto-scaling and on-demand resource allocation. These features adjust cloud resource usage based on current demand, minimising the amount you pay for idle or underutilised resources. This flexibility in cost management helps your company optimise its budget and allocate funds towards innovation and growth initiatives.
Source: Gartner.
4. Become a scalable and adaptable enterprise
A multi-cloud approach enhances your company's scalability and adaptability because you can scale resources based on demand. Access to multiple cloud platforms makes deploying new applications and services easier. With this flexibility, your organisation can adapt to market changes and innovate.
A multi-cloud strategy enhances adaptability by supporting emerging technologies and practices. As your company's needs evolve, so will your technology requirements. An integrated multi-cloud strategy enables you to incorporate new tools and platforms without significant disruptions. As such, you can pivot quickly and continuously enhance products and services to meet market demands.
5. Create composability with best-of-breed platforms
Adopting a multi-cloud strategy enables your business to integrate various best-of-breed products and create a composable infrastructure. This approach supports the development and deployment of applications using the most suitable technologies available. By selecting the best components from different providers, your company can tailor cloud services to meet your unique needs and maximise operational efficiency.
Composability lets you achieve greater flexibility and responsiveness to change. As business requirements evolve, your company can swap out or upgrade components without overhauling the entire IT infrastructure. By embracing a multi-cloud strategy, your business can enjoy the benefits of a dynamic, adaptable, and high-performing environment.
What's needed to experience these benefits?
So, the two questions that I get asked frequently are: How do we do this properly? And why doesn’t everyone do this?
A composable enterprise needs one thing above all others to enable flexibility and reliability - and that is an integration layer (sometimes called a service bus, ESB or iPaaS). To successfully add new services, adjust existing ones, and reduce errors, the business information that moves between these services needs to be automated and accurate. An integration layer does exactly that. You can’t rely on people to move that critical information around because people are less reliable, make mistakes, have sick days, move on to other projects, etc.
Using systems integration enables your business data to be in the right place at the right time, which prevents your organisation from creating data silos with each new service implemented. When the data flows seamlessly between your cloud services, you enable your business to leverage the best features of each and build a more versatile, agile, and efficient composable infrastructure.
The reason everyone doesn’t do it is simple. Cost and effort. Many of the traditional platforms that serve as integration layers are costly and tricky to use. However, that is slowly changing. There are a few integration platforms out there that lower the barrier to entry for companies looking to move to a composable model. If you’re considering testing this approach, you’ll want to find a platform that is cost-effective and intuitive to use. The easier a platform is to use, the lower the cost and time to implement it correctly.
Conclusion
A multi-cloud strategy has become the norm for many businesses. But remember, to do it right, you’ve got to have an integration layer to underpin it all.
By using the unique strengths of different cloud environments, your organisation can create a tailored IT infrastructure that maximises efficiency and adaptability. A multi-cloud strategy allows your business to optimise costs by choosing the most cost-effective services from various providers, reducing expenses and avoiding redundant capabilities.
Scalability and composability also make a convincing case for a multi-cloud strategy. Your company can easily scale resources based on demand, maintaining high availability and geographic redundancy. The modular nature of a multi-cloud environment also allows your organisation to quickly adapt to new technologies and market changes, supporting continuous improvement and innovation.
Creative Folks can integrate your multi-cloud strategy
Your multi-cloud strategy will falter if your applications and platforms cannot communicate. At Creative Folks, we offer comprehensive systems integration services to help your organisation eliminate silos and enhance operational efficiency. Our SiPHON integration platform, built on serverless technology and composability principles, seamlessly connects disparate systems, consolidates data flows, and reduces the total cost of ownership.
Our dedicated experts can collaborate with your team to tailor a solution that meets your strategic objectives and requirements. Visit our SiPHON page to discover how we can transform your business.
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