? EDITOR ’ S QUESTION //
“
LEADERS SHOULD SET
OUT OBJECTIVES THAT ALIGN TO
MEET NEEDS ,
INCLUDING TARGETS FOR SCALABILITY ,
COST SAVINGS , IMPROVED
PERFORMANCE AND VENDOR
LOCK-IN MITIGATION .
A recent study from Gartner identified that most tech teams will be revising their cloud infrastructure , and as a result , 65 % of application workloads will be optimal or ready for cloud delivery by 2027 , which is up from 45 % last year . With the focus of refactoring the cloud increasingly rising on agendas , it is essential for SMEs to understand how to make a multi-cloud strategy a success .
A multi-cloud strategy refers to employing two or more cloud services from two or more providers . Companies can then distribute computing resources for business tasks to the most relevant cloud services so they are completed in the most efficient ways .
Establishing and organising business needs
The first step to a successful multi-cloud strategy is clearly outlining business needs and how these will be met by the various providers . Once these are established , organising who is responsible for what and keeping regular tabs on the use of each cloud service is essential .
Leaders should set out objectives that align to meet needs , including targets for scalability , cost savings , improved performance and vendor lock-in mitigation .
Not only does this minimise security risks by covering all the business ’ bases , it also helps lower costs , as an SME would only pay for exactly what it needs .
Maintaining visibility across operations
Multi-cloud strategies can sometimes limit visibility when IT teams need to access multiple platforms and services to gain a holistic picture of their operations . Ensuring that a company has a single observability solution that allows them to optimise performance and resilience is key .
Robust data management practices should be implemented , including data backup and Disaster Recovery across the multicloud environments .
Properly mitigating security risks
Using multiple cloud service providers may also increase the risk of security breaches if appropriate steps are not taken . In order to implement a successful multi-cloud strategy , SMEs need to understand the security requirements specific to each provider .
A consistent governance framework should also be developed to ensure compliance across all cloud providers with industry regulations , as well as internal policies . Through encryption , access controls and compliance measures , SMEs can also ensure better data security .
A successful multi-cloud strategy prioritises organisation to ensure that no data gets lost , or applications forgotten . Packaging applications and databases in containers can make them easier to transport across cloud service providers and makes testing easier for DevOps teams . This makes less points of entry for cybercriminals to infiltrate an SME ’ s system and for more routine application testing .
JOSH BOER , HEAD OF SALES , VEUP
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