The notion of network-based computing dates back to the 1960s, but according to MIT Technology Review “some accounts trace the birth of the term to 2006, when large companies such as Google and Amazon began using “cloud computing” to describe the new paradigm”. Similarly, with any technology, cloud computing is going through its own transformation. As our world moves into a digital world, the amount of data stored in cloud is rising and to manage their cloud instances most organizations are opting to utilize more than one cloud provider for their data storage needs. In fact, the IDC’s FutureShape Cloud 2018 Predictions forecasted that by the end of this year more than 90% of enterprises will use multi-cloud services and platforms.
Just as manufacturing companies are hesitant to rely on a single vendor or supplier, a large number of enterprises are opting to spread their cloud usage across more than one provider. By definition, multi-cloud means cloud native applications built from containers and microservices using component services from different cloud providers. Most organizations diversify cloud providers to ensure their storage and processing options are flexible across unique requirements and secure the opportunity to control costs. In addition, cloud management is becoming increasingly decentralized, enabling business groups to determine which cloud provider best fits their requirements. IT managers’ roles are becoming more complex as they juggle responsibilities across cloud providers and attempt to control access groups and roles.
Enterprise cloud IT spend is increasing. In fact Canalys reported in their Cloud Market Share 2019 Report, that cloud infrastructure services spend worldwide has grown to $107 billion. Up 37.2% from 2018. According to Flexera’s Rightscale 2019 State of the Cloud Report, 63% of Enterprises spend at least $600k and 38% spend over $2.4M annually.
With exponential growth across cloud usage and spend, companies need a streamlined path to:
- Set controls
- Ensure compliance
- Prevent spending waste
One way that companies are combating this increased complexity is with multi-cloud platforms, which integrates the disparate cloud providers into a single pane of glass. Rather than the burden of managing each cloud instance individually, controls can be set across the platforms. While the multi-cloud providers’ offerings and features differ, at the core they provide the opportunity to view and manage optimization and set access control across your entire cloud instance.
Another rationale for utilizing multi-cloud includes dealing with latency issues, which causes delays when data traffic must travel across several nodes before reaching end-users. With multi-cloud infrastructure, geographies can be better served.
Globally, IT managers are singing the praises of their multi-cloud platform. One reviewer on popular SaaS review site, SaaSworthy, summarized multi-cloud benefits with their review of multi-cloud platform Morpheus Data:
“I love that Morpheus is made for Directors of IT. I love how Morpheus does much more than just cloud management. With this one platform, I can orchestrate, deploy, check costs, search logs, and never worry about backup or disaster recovery again.”
One of the more impressive tools some multi-cloud platforms offer is the ability to view usage and spend across cloud providers. As decentralization of the cloud grow within an organization, so too will IT budgets. Leaders will need the tools to better understand which applications are costing unnecessary spend to manage those budgets. The image below showcases a Morpheus feature that allows users to compare utilization vs cost. This provides the opportunity to identify which applications are not properly optimized and adjust accordingly.
