The question of whether an individual enterprise should go with a multi-cloud or sole-provider strategy seems to be largely settled. While some are happy having a single cloud service provider, surveys show that as many as 90% of large organizations are opting for a multi-cloud approach.
Now, they just have to make that multi-cloud strategy work.
The original decision to rely on several cloud providers is starting to seem relatively easy given the challenges that pop up as an organization seeks the benefits that their cloud strategy promises. CIOs don't seem to regret their choice, but the move to multi-cloud -- accelerated by a pandemic, work-from-home, and board directors calling for digital transformation -- does raise challenges.
The two most significant themes tend to be the complexity that use of multiple cloud providers brings and the challenge of Data management. Complexity is driven by factors such as IT decision makers keeping track of which applications or units are supported by which provider, different terms of service and billing policies, even different contract language.
Data management may be the greater issue in the long run. Effective data management is crucial to digital transformation as companies struggle to manage increasingly large and diverse data streams. That data -- at least the most valuable data -- is at the heart of efforts to improve the customer experience and drive internal efficiency. Consolidating data sitting in varied applications hosted by multiple cloud providers simply can be challenging.
The articles in this guide delve into what organizations are doing and should be doing to address multi-cloud strategies, and how some companies are succeeding.
Concerns about identity and access management in the cloud might slow enterprise migration as awareness of gaps in control are realized. IT decision makers may hesitate or at least carefully consider consequences related to identity and access management (IAM) and the cloud, according to research by Forrester. Recently released research conducted by Forrester
The Future State of the Cloud
Here are some trends revealed from a decade’s worth of research, including steadily growing interest in multi-cloud, with more than 90% of enterprises having a multi-cloud strategy.
Many big enterprises are committed to public cloud, but they may just be getting started with data management efforts in multi-cloud environments. That is key to meeting their goal of leveraging data to provide better customer experiences and internal efficiency.
When enterprises make long-term plans for the cloud, they face a tough choice early in the process. They could pick only one source for their cloud services, such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud, to take advantage of all the exclusive features providers offer to their dedicated users. A counterpoint to a “locked-in” approach is to choose agnostic, multi-cloud services cherrypicked from different providers to allow for more freedom. Experts continue to debate the advantages and drawbacks of each path that enterprises can select.
Multi-cloud strategies can lead to greater challenges with factors such as unstructured data, data steaming and IoT. IT leaders need to understand that a problem exists and then think through approaches. Once they do that, the technology to employ is easier to figure out. Here's some guidance.
No doubt, wide adoption of the cloud as a one-size-fits-all solution
brings tons of benefits to the table. However, they come at a cost not everyone can handle.
