More and more companies are accelerating their migration to the cloud (Hybrid or Multicloud). But as with any project, current and future needs must be weighed against business benefits, risk mitigation, cost and speed of deployment. As a result, Multicloud appears to be the norm.
Report by analyst firm Forrester
A report by analysts Forrester on multi-cloud strategy is highly instructive. It shows that companies have reached a certain level of maturity in this ecosystem. Nine out of ten organizations - questioned as part of this survey - declare that on-premises infrastructure is an essential element of their hybrid cloud strategies.
It's proof that not everything can be deployed in the cloud. And that it is necessary to distribute applications and workloads in order to limit dependency.
This report confirms that companies choose the right IT infrastructure strategies based on the tasks they need to accomplish and their requirements. When it comes to developing a hybrid cloud strategy, requirements can vary considerably from one company to another.
But Forrester notes some common considerations, particularly in relation to workload, security requirements and time to value. Thus, IT decision-makers predict that more than half of their mission-critical workloads and 47% of their data-intensive workloads will be running either on-premises or in an internal private cloud in two years' time.
Cloud migration
The cloud needs to be "considered" with pragmatism and diligence, not by trying to throw everything at it for the sake of it. As with any project, current and future needs must be weighed against business benefits, risk mitigation, cost and speed of deployment.
Depending on your specific needs and the solutions on offer, you can find the winning formula, or at any rate, the most suitable one. But the situation is becoming increasingly complex for some companies.
Wisdom dictates that you start your migration with workloads that are easy to move or that are not business-critical. The situation gets tougher when it comes to tackling the migration of more complex or sensitive workloads.
Organization and rigor
Some applications need to be rewritten, if only to support the distribution of their workload across multiple instances.
This step represents more than just a technological change. It will lead to new working and organizational methods. No easy task. According to one survey, 73% of companies have failed to deliver any business value from their digital transformation efforts!
Too many companies see digital transformation as simply moving from a legacy IS to a cloud infrastructure. Technology and budget are no longer obstacles... as long as you have a global view of your cloud subscriptions.
In addition to the advertised monthly rates, you need to take into account the following when budgeting. The existence of hidden costs, the need for additional support, or even targeted training.
The challenge facing most companies today is to select the right solution or type of cloud for their specific business objectives.
Hybrid and multicloud environments: the norm?
Hybrid and multi-cloud environments have become the norm, not by design, but by osmosis. The choice of a cloud for a specific application depends on many factors that each company will have determined.
This means that it's virtually impossible to use a single cloud platform for all your applications. It's important to identify which applications should remain on-premises or be migrated to a private or public cloud. This is where the value of hybrid cloud becomes apparent. You gain the flexibility to find the right cloud for the right application.
In addition to flexibility, multicloud offers three other major advantages:
- Improved customer experience;
- Different cloud architecture models to follow
- An ability to support change.
The cloud is also a formidable catalyst for modernizing not only applications, but also integration styles. With the advent of a multitude of data sources, including IoT and sensors, and the need for both structured and unstructured data, a diverse range of integration models continues to emerge.
It is therefore necessary to identify the integration models that apply in your company's context.
However, these multi-cloud environments bring with them new challenges. These include ensuring a consistent level of security across different clouds, protecting applications against a broad spectrum of threats, and gaining visibility into application health.
And one of the keys to success is to set up cross-functional teams. They will deal with strategic, organizational and financial aspects at the same time, and in a coherent way.
For more information on hybrid and multicloud clous, contact us!
