Leveraging multiple cloud service providers (CSPs) has become increasingly common in this era of digital transformation. However, managing multi-cloud environments introduces a host of challenges. This blog explores effective strategies for data and analytics (D&A) leaders to navigate these complexities and optimize their multi-cloud deployments.
Overview
The 2023 Gartner Cloud End-User Behavior Survey revealed that 81% of organizations using public clouds utilize more than one CSP. This widespread adoption of multi-cloud strategies often occurs organically, without a cohesive plan, complicating usage tracking and cost management. Each CSP's ecosystem maturity varies, requiring significant integration efforts akin to on-premises platforms. Furthermore, ISVs offer cloud-agnostic solutions that fill functionality gaps and increase complexity.
Key Findings
The key findings from the Gartner survey highlight the extensive use of multi-cloud environments. While 81% of respondents use multiple CSPs, the majority (63%) have a primary provider supplemented by additional ones, and 18% use various providers without a primary one. This widespread adoption stems from the inability to enforce strict adherence to a single provider, driven by factors such as SaaS products, vendor lock-in avoidance, shadow IT, mergers and acquisitions, regulatory requirements, point solutions, and flexibility.
Recommendations for D&A Leaders
1. Deploy Multi-cloud and Inter-cloud Architectures as Needed
D&A leaders should embrace multi-cloud and inter-cloud architectures when necessary. Policies must be created to govern cloud usage, preventing the adoption of nonstrategic offerings, redundant services, and uncontrolled spending. The goal is not to restrict cloud usage but to ensure that it aligns with organizational strategies and provides maximum benefit.
Multi-cloud deployments should be approached strategically. Each cloud service should be chosen based on its ability to meet specific organizational needs. This requires a thorough understanding of each CSP's benefits and limitations. By doing so, organizations can harness the strengths of multiple providers, ensuring resilience, geographic localization and avoiding CSP lock-in.
2. Track Usage Across Clouds
Effective management of multi-cloud environments necessitates robust tracking of usage and costs. D&A leaders should utilize cloud monitoring and optimization tools to gain visibility into resource allocation and latency issues. These tools help prevent uncontrolled spending and identify architectural pain points requiring remediation.
Due to the complexity and scale of data flow, tracking usage across multiple clouds can be challenging. It is essential to monitor not only the volume of data but also its direction and usage patterns. This monitoring provides insights into inefficiencies and areas for improvement. Additionally, investing in metadata management solutions can enhance visibility into data relationships and usage across the organization.
3. Choose Deployment Tiers Based on Use Case Needs
When selecting multi-cloud or inter-cloud deployment tiers, organizations must consider the specific optimization needs of their use cases. This involves a trade-off between flexibility and optimization. Each tier—application, DBMS, or object storage—offers different benefits and should be chosen based on the particular requirements of the deployment.
The application tier focuses on querying data across clouds, addressing latency and performance concerns. The DBMS tier supports geographically distributed clusters, ensuring local read/write capabilities and data sovereignty policy enforcement. The object storage tier provides the greatest flexibility by allowing data distribution across clouds and optimizing costs and governance. D&A leaders must weigh these factors to determine the most suitable tier for their needs.
4. Integrate ISV Capabilities
Incorporating ISV capabilities into multi-cloud environments can enhance functionality beyond what CSPs natively offer. ISVs provide cloud-agnostic solutions that support a wide array of platforms, offering advanced maturity in data integration, metadata management, data quality, data governance, and master data management (MDM).
Integrating ISV solutions with CSP offerings can reduce complexity. This requires careful planning and strategizing to ensure seamless integration and governance. While CSPs are slowly enhancing their native offerings, ISVs continue to advance at a rapid pace and play a critical role in providing specialized, mature solutions that address specific organizational needs.
Analysis
Intentionally Plan Your Cloud Architecture
Multi-cloud and inter-cloud architectures often arise naturally, but intentional planning is crucial for managing these environments effectively. According to the Gartner survey, many organizations use multiple CSPs without a primary provider, leading to challenges such as performance issues, unplanned cost overruns, and data integration difficulties.
Intentional planning involves creating a deliberate cloud adoption strategy. This includes identifying the primary CSP and justifying the use of additional providers. Organizations should simplify and optimize the onboarding process to the preferred primary CSP, driving adoption and ensuring alignment with strategic goals. Policies should be established to manage cloud usage and mitigate the risks associated with multi-cloud environments.
Centralized Management and Data Ecosystems
Centralized management of multi-cloud environments can streamline operations and enhance governance. CSP services enable organizations to manage on-premises infrastructure and create a unified data management platform. These services extend cloud capabilities into on-premises environments, providing common security, governance, and monitoring policies.
Data ecosystems aim to unify various point solutions, moving away from a fragmented approach to a cohesive, single-product experience. These ecosystems simplify data management across multiple clouds, reducing the complexity and overhead of managing separate environments.
Deployment Tiers
Selecting the appropriate deployment tier is critical for optimizing multi-cloud environments. Each tier—application, DBMS, or object storage—offers unique benefits and challenges. The application tier manages queries and data access across clouds, addressing latency and performance concerns with caching layers. The DBMS tier supports geographically distributed clusters, ensuring local read/write capabilities and data sovereignty policy enforcement. The object storage tier provides flexibility by allowing data distribution across clouds and optimizing costs and governance.
When integrating data management environments that reside in multiple clouds, organizations must consider the specific requirements of their use cases. A solution that extends cloud object storage to multiple clouds offers the greatest flexibility, while the application or DBMS tier may be better suited for specific needs. D&A leaders should carefully evaluate these trade-offs to determine the most suitable deployment tier.
Use ISVs for Cloud-Agnostic Solutions
ISVs provide mature, cloud-agnostic solutions that extend beyond CSP-native capabilities. They support various platforms, offering advanced functionality in data integration, metadata management, data quality, data governance, and master data management (MDM). However, ISVs face challenges from CSPs, which are enhancing their native offerings and integrating tightly with the underlying infrastructure.
To remain competitive, ISVs must emphasize their differentiation in multi-cloud portability and mature product offerings. They should also highlight their ability to provide specialized solutions that address specific organizational needs. Integrating ISV solutions with CSP offerings can reduce complexity and help with planning and strategizing.
Recommendations
To leverage ISV offerings effectively, D&A leaders should use them when they provide superior functionality or scope compared to native CSP offerings. Integrating ISV and CSP solutions can streamline governance and financial management complexity. Organizations should plan accordingly, ensuring seamless integration and efficient management of multi-cloud environments.
Conclusion
As the digital landscape evolves, a well-thought-out multi-cloud strategy is essential. By intentionally planning cloud architectures, tracking usage, choosing appropriate deployment tiers, and leveraging ISV capabilities, D&A leaders can navigate the complexities of multi-cloud environments and optimize their cloud resources. Embracing multi-cloud deployments can offer reliability and geographic localization, and mitigate the risk of CSP lock-in, providing a robust foundation for digital transformation.
