What is Multicloud and is it the next big thing?

27.09.2018 1,736 9

Martin Deshev

Just like there are several types of real clouds, there are a few IT clouds, as well. After the Public cloud, the Private cloud and the Hybrid cloud, now the Multicloud is gaining popularity. It’s not a “new” term exactly, but it has been making its way to the spotlight over the past year or so.

The Multicloud is not a Hybrid cloud. Instead, it means using more than one public cloud at the same time. Why would you want to do that? Well, the Multicloud became an apparent trend when enterprises started using several public clouds.

Benefits of the Multicloud

The reason why the Multicloud is on the rise is simple – clients don’t want to depend on only one provider. Plus, they want some services which provider B has, but not provider A.

This gives companies and organizations a lot more flexibility. They can mix and match services and solutions. They practically have everything they need. Often this comes at a lower cost, too. And they’re not locked into by any vendor which means more freedom.

The Multicloud also has the benefit of availability. Using several providers means redundancy, better security and often the option to use complied statistics from the different platforms and their clients.

The Multicloud is also good for the providers, including the small ones. It allows them to create niche services and reach big clients which they wouldn’t normally be able to. So, the Multicloud is a rare win-win for everyone involved. Plus, the Multicloud means you can’t have one dominating player to rule as the whole idea is decentralization.

Drawbacks

Of course, it’s not all rainbows and butterflies. As with anything else, there’s no perfect solution. Otherwise, there weren’t going to be so many solutions out there. The Multicloud brings its own set of challenges.

For example, you have to make sure you have the right strategy in place and pick the right vendors. You need to make sure their solutions and platforms are compatible with each other and the ones you already use.

Then, there’s the question of migration. It has to have proper planning and often requires additional effort. Sometimes getting everything to work the way you want it to, will be tricky, especially with so many different vendors and concepts. Still, the benefits outweigh the problems, so we can safely expect that the Multicloud is here to stay. In fact, it will only get bigger.