An Overview of Multi-Cloud Strategy | Parallels Insights

Bringing Down the Complexity and Cost of a Multi-Cloud Initiative

Multi-cloud options include public, private or hybrid—but which one should you choose? While many can debate which of the cloud adoption strategies are best for business, the answer is often all of the above.

What is Multi-Cloud?

Before looking into how we can bring down the complexity and costs that might appear when opting for a Multi-Cloud strategy, it is important to first ensure that we have a clear understanding of what Multi-Cloud really is.

A company may use one or more cloud services as part of a multi-cloud strategy to accomplish a variety of objectives. To get the most out of each distinct service, organizations who don’t want to rely on just one cloud vendor may decide to leverage resources from numerous different providers.

Software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) methods may all be included in a multi-cloud solution. The adoption of various private cloud and cloud hosting systems is another possibility. The word is typically used by IT experts to refer to a strategy that makes use of several public cloud services.

Lessons Learned by Multi-Cloud Early Adopters

Early cloud adopters, after having spent time managing their own cloud environments, have learned there is no one-size-fits-all solution when migrating IT infrastructure to the cloud. If you force workloads onto a cloud that isn’t meant to support them, they become unwieldy, inefficient, and costly.

Businesses have come to realize that the best way is to adopt a multi-cloud strategy is to run workloads where they fit best. If Amazon Web Services (AWS) is better suited for big data analytic projects, then they should continue to run these types of projects there. If Microsoft Azure provides better support for transactional workloads, then run them there. If it’s more secure running a mission-critical workload in their private cloud, then they should keep it there.

Benefits of Adopting a Multi-Cloud Strategy

Based on a global survey involving 727 cloud technology decision-makers from large enterprise companies, 86% of large businesses already have a multi-cloud strategy. The major considerations in doing so include:

Better Performance (38%)
Better Compliance and Security Capabilities (37%)
Better Availability/Resilience (29%)

Decision-makers cited improved IT infrastructure management and flexibility, better IT cost management, and improved security and compliance among the key benefits of adopting a multi-cloud approach.

Key Metrics

The following key metrics were cited as barometers for success in moving to a multi-cloud strategy:

Improved Performance (58%)
Total Cost Savings (52%)
Faster Delivery Time (41%)

The emphasis on performance confirms that certain workloads don’t operate optimally when placed in a cloud infrastructure that wasn’t designed for it. Therefore, it isn’t advisable to run all your applications on a single cloud.

The inclusion of cost savings as a barometer for success implies that not only is multi-cloud better from a technological perspective, but it’s also more practical from a financial standpoint. It’s not just attractive for your CIO, IT staff, and developers, multi-cloud offers a compelling value proposition to your CFO and CEO.

Drawbacks With the Multi-Cloud

Management Complexity

A multi-cloud implementation demands working with many providers, each according to their own set of procedures and technology. Furthermore, having complete visibility into the technological stack gets increasingly challenging when data is stored and operations are run across several clouds.

More Frequent Latency

When services in different clouds need to communicate with one another to meet user demands, delays can be added depending on how tightly the clouds are coupled, how far apart the data centers are geographically, or how frequently multiple clouds need to communicate.

More Vulnerabilities

The more hardware and software that are interconnected, the more risks there are likely to be.

Performance and Reliability

Balancing loads across several clouds can be problematic, particularly if the data centers are located far away geographically.

Use Cases for Multi-Cloud

Accelerate App Transition and New App Delivery

Companies are deploying apps on public, private, and edge clouds depending on their business goals and application requirements. Cloud Smart has taken the position of Cloud First.

Avoid Vendor Lock-In and Maintain Corporate Autonomy.

Concerns about total cloud investment, data sovereignty, vendor dependency, and lock-in are growing. As a result, businesses will continue to distribute their estate across several contexts.

Deploy Apps and Services to the Edge

In sectors like logistics, retail, or manufacturing, the next phase of improvements in automation, efficiency, and enhanced customer experiences necessitates moving apps closer to physical objects and users.

Encourage the Growth of a Scattered Workforce

Enterprises must adapt to the new reality of distributed workforces. The emerging hybrid workforce problem is securing and monitoring people and their devices while still allowing employees to be productive from anywhere.

The Difference Between Hybrid Cloud and Multi-Cloud

Although a multi-cloud and a hybrid cloud may be used interchangeably, both phrases refer to two different ideas.

The term “hybrid cloud” refers to the blending of two or more different types of infrastructure, including at least one public cloud and either a private cloud, an on-premises data center, or both. The term “multi-cloud” refers to the deployment of many public clouds; it can also apply to a private cloud.

Simplified Multi-Cloud Adoption with Parallels RAS

To implement a multi-cloud strategy, businesses must choose tools that support a multi-cloud infrastructure. Parallels® Remote Application Server (RAS), is a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solution that delivers Windows applications, desktops, and data to a wide range of platforms, including Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Chrome OS, Linux, and any HTML5-ready web browser.

One major advantage of Parallels RAS is that it readily supports a variety of cloud deployment models, including:

On-premises deployment
Public cloud deployment (including AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform)
Hybrid cloud deployment

This built-in capability means that cloud administrators can easily roll out Parallels RAS, regardless of which type of cloud it is deployed from.

Parallels RAS:

Supports security features such as multi-factor authentication, client policies, granular filtering, and RBAC (role-based access control), which help mitigate data security risks.
Can be managed from anywhere, through a single pane of glass. Administrators have complete control and visibility over your organization’s VDI-delivered applications.

Solutions such as Parallels RAS remove the challenges associated with rolling out a multi-cloud strategy, removing complexity, and accelerating progress while reducing the total cost of ownership.

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