Multicloud — A New Hope for Cost Optimization and Efficiency?
Contributors Juan OrlandiniCTO of Insight North America
Miles WardCTO, SADA, an Insight Company
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At the start of 2023, nearly half (49%) of IT decision-makers said increasing cloud adoption via multicloud and hybrid cloud ranked among their top strategic priorities.
The meteoric rise of cloud technology isn’t surprising when you evaluate the benefits: flexibility, scalability, cost savings and improved performance. However, without expert guidance, crafting an efficient, cost-effective environment of separate cloud services can lead to unintended consequences, such as underutilization, integration challenges and “cloud creep” (having more clouds than you realize).
The latter might seem hard to believe, but CTO of Insight North America Juan Orlandini confirms, “Most customers are in a multicloud or a hybrid cloud or a hybrid multicloud model... In fact, most clients tell us they are in a single cloud but when we start digging into it deeper, it turns out they’re consuming multiple clouds.”
As organizations continue to navigate the complexities of digital transformation, the adoption of multicloud environments has become more than just a trend — it’s a necessary evolution to meet the growing demands for scalable and reliable IT infrastructure.
But with no one-size-fits-all solution, how do you find the right multicloud fit for your needs?
The innovation that’s happening in multicloud is unbelievable. We’re probably going to rapidly see more innovation in the next 18 to 24 months than we have in the past five or six years.
The multicloud approach stands out as a strategic model that involves the simultaneous use of multiple cloud computing services from different providers. This model is distinct from hybrid cloud environments, which typically combine public and private clouds but may not involve multiple external cloud services. Multicloud setups enable organizations to distribute their resources across several cloud environments.
By spreading data and applications across multiple clouds, businesses can protect themselves against the risk of downtime and data loss associated with relying on a single cloud provider. This dispersion not only safeguards critical business functions but also ensures the continuous service delivery that today’s digital-first world demands.
SADA CTO Miles Ward highlights the fact that “the business context in which customers operate is changing more rapidly in 2024 than any other environment that I’ve been exposed to.”
Flexibility is a huge benefit of adopting multicloud architecture. Organizations can select from a diverse palette of services offered by various cloud providers, mixing and matching to create a customized environment that aligns with their specific technical requirements and business goals. This flexibility extends to geographical considerations as well, where data can be stored in specific regions to comply with local data protection regulations.
The most effective counter is all about privileged access management and improved endpoint detection as the two main defenses. This approach creates strong barriers against these types of deceptive attacks.
Multicloud strategies give businesses access to best-of-breed services. Different cloud providers often specialize in particular functionalities or offer unique capabilities. Adopting a multicloud approach ensures companies bypass potential restrictions on the offerings of a single provider and have access to the best applications, infrastructure and services available on the market. This access doesn’t just drive innovation; it optimizes operational efficiencies and enables businesses to leverage the most suitable advanced technologies on the market.
CTO of Insight North America Juan Orlandini acknowledges that “being able to meet all of those needs and making sure that we are helping our clients identify the right workloads for the right locations has really been instrumental in us solving real world problems in the best way possible and getting the right outcomes for our clients.”
Multicloud is not just about using multiple clouds; it’s about maximizing the strategic potential of these resources to foster resilience, flexibility and access to the best technologies available.
The complexity of integrating across multiple cloud platforms lies in coordinating any number of distinct services to perform seamlessly as a cohesive unit. This challenge is not just technical but strategic, requiring a deep understanding of the subtleties of each platform and the specific needs of business operations.
Collaboration across multiple platforms involves integrating separate cloud environments so they can work together effectively. This process includes ensuring consistent data management practices, unified security protocols and synchronized operations across platforms. The goal is to create a fluid and flexible environment where data and applications can move freely without the barriers that typically segment clouds.
Miles spotlights the daunting complexity of multicloud, saying, “When it comes to cloud comparisons, there’s no such thing as apples to apples, and it’s not like apples to oranges. It’s like apples to pickles… we found a lot of places where a more nuanced understanding of the performance characteristics of the individual services, especially the more managed services can have really outsized effects.”
Achieving this level of integration is a challenge due to the varying APIs, standards and services offered by different cloud providers. Anything less than seamless integration can lead to disruptions in service, increased costs and potential security vulnerabilities. You’ve got to have a dependable strategy that includes advanced cloud management tools, skilled personnel and a clear governance model that aligns with the organization’s overall IT strategy.
When it comes to cloud comparisons, there’s no such thing as apples to apples… It’s like apples to pickles.
The adoption of multicloud dramatically changes the financial footing of IT infrastructure, primarily due to the flexibility it offers in Capital Expenditure (CapEx) and Operational Expenditure (OpEx) models. This flexibility is vital for businesses aiming to optimize their spending while scaling their operations effectively.
In a CapEx model, companies encounter significant upfront costs for the physical infrastructure and software licenses needed to build and maintain their IT environments. This model can be financially taxing and inflexible. Multicloud strategies, by contrast, enable organizations to shift toward an OpEx model, where costs are based on consumption. This means expenses are operational and variable, aligning more closely with actual usage and business needs, leading to more predictable and manageable costs.
In Ward’s experience, clients share the same hopes and expectations for their cloud investment. “They are looking for the most price and performance efficient, most reliable, most secure, most efficient system that they can design,” he says. Tall order? Perhaps. But the multicloud approach provides the ability to switch between providers and services as pricing changes or as new, more cost-effective solutions emerge. This ability to adapt quickly not only prevents vendor lock-in but also ensures you can always leverage the best services at the most competitive rates (and having the right IT partner to negotiate the migrations with you sure helps).
Controlling cloud costs takes more than navigating vendor agreements. In fact, there’s almost an art form to it. It’s called FinOps.
FinOps, or Financial Operations, is a business practice aimed at maximizing the financial benefit of cloud investments by bringing financial accountability to the variable spend model of cloud services. This team plays a pivotal role in ensuring that multicloud strategies are not only technologically sound but also economically viable.
Ward is enthusiastic about the essential need for this numbers-savvy team working alongside cloud architects. “The reason the FinOps discipline exists is because there are so many options, and most business buyers don’t care about all that. They just want to hear what’s the right answer,” he says.
One of the primary challenges that FinOps teams face is the comparison of cloud pricing across different providers. Each cloud service has its own pricing model, which is often complex and opaque, making it difficult to directly compare costs on a like-for-like basis. This complexity is compounded in a multicloud environment where services from multiple providers must be evaluated and managed.
A FinOps team’s effectiveness lies in its ability to bridge the gap between finance and operations, ensuring that every dollar spent on cloud services is tracked, optimized and aligned with the organization’s strategic goals. This alignment is a vital component of a multicloud strategy, where the management of resources across multiple platforms needs to be both agile and cost effective.
One of the things that we counsel all the time is you better stand up a FinOps team that is just as capable as your DevOps teams or SRE teams… because that financial side of the house is just as important, if not more.
The journey to multicloud is not solely a technological endeavor; it is fundamentally a human one. Successful multicloud adoption hinges on the ability of an organization to navigate cultural and organizational changes. This transition requires a shift in mindset from the traditional siloed IT approach to one that embraces the dynamic nature of multicloud environments.
Insight VP and CISO Jason Rader confirms, “If the culture isn’t ready to adopt, the tech is almost meaningless, right?”
Orlandini agrees, emphasizing how methods like agile take time to adopt. “It's not like all of a sudden you can ‘do’ agile,” he says. “You actually have to live and breathe and culture agile — across functions, across the organization. Not just the technical guys, not just the FinOps guys.
You have to make sure that you’re implementing this holistically. And if you can, you get these huge accelerations, and they’re fantastic, but it can be hard and daunting at first.
The necessary cultural change involves fostering an environment where innovation is encouraged, and failure is seen as a learning opportunity. Leadership must support this cultural shift and ensure that it extends to all levels of your organization. It requires clear communication, comprehensive training and a reevaluation of existing processes to align with the agility that multicloud environments demand.
The human factor also extends to the skills required to manage multicloud environments. IT teams need to be equipped with knowledge in areas such as cloud-native development, cybersecurity and data analytics. Upskilling and reskilling initiatives become crucial components of an effective multicloud strategy.
Adopting a multicloud mindset is not just a technological upgrade; it is a strategic necessity for businesses aiming to thrive in a digitally-driven marketplace. This approach offers a variety of benefits, including enhanced flexibility, improved resilience and access to best-of-breed technologies. However, the journey toward a successful multicloud strategy is not without challenges.
Insight’s role extends beyond that of a solutions provider. With over three decades of experience and deep relationships with more than 8,000 technology providers, Insight is uniquely positioned to deliver tailored solutions. These solutions will align with your specific business outcomes and ensure you receive the most value from your cloud investments.
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