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What is multicloud?

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Overview

Understanding multicloud

Multicloud is a sophisticated approach where organizations use multiple cloud service providers to distribute their computing resources, applications, and data infrastructure. Unlike with traditional single-cloud models, businesses can optimize performance, enhance flexibility, and mitigate risks by avoiding vendor lock-in with multicloud. They can select cloud services from different providers, tailoring their IT infrastructure to specific business needs and technological requirements.

Multicloud

What are the different cloud deployment models used in multicloud?

There are three primary cloud deployment models:

Public cloud

Public cloud is shared computing infrastructure owned and operated by third-party cloud service providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. These environments offer scalable resources accessible via the internet, allowing businesses to leverage powerful computing capabilities without significant upfront hardware investments.

Private cloud

Private cloud is a dedicated cloud infrastructure exclusively used by a single organization. Typically hosted either on-premises or through a dedicated hosting provider, private clouds offer enhanced security, greater control, and customization options. Organizations in highly regulated industries like healthcare and finance often prefer private cloud environments to maintain stringent data protection and compliance standards. Learn about OpenText Private Cloud.

Hybrid cloud

Hybrid cloud combines public and private cloud infrastructures, creating a unified and flexible computing environment. This model allows businesses to maintain sensitive workloads in a private cloud while leveraging the scalability and cost-effectiveness of public cloud services for less critical applications. Hybrid cloud strategies provide organizations with unprecedented flexibility in managing their IT resources.

What are the benefits of a multicloud strategy?

Multicloud strategies offer compelling advantages for modern enterprises. By distributing workloads across multiple cloud providers, organizations can optimize performance, reduce dependency on a single vendor, and create a more resilient technological ecosystem. Businesses gain the ability to select best-of-breed services from different providers, ensuring they always have access to the most innovative and cost-effective solutions.

Key benefits include:

  • Performance optimization: Companies can strategically place workloads on cloud platforms that offer the best performance for specific tasks. This approach allows businesses to leverage specialized services from different providers, maximizing computational efficiency and reducing latency.

  • Risk mitigation: Distributing infrastructure across multiple cloud providers reduces the risk of service disruptions. If one cloud service experiences an outage, organizations can rapidly shift workloads to alternative platforms, ensuring business continuity and minimizing potential revenue loss.

  • Cost management: Multicloud strategies enable businesses to compare pricing models and select the most cost-effective solutions for different computational needs. By avoiding vendor lock-in, companies can negotiate better rates and optimize their cloud spending.

What are the challenges of multicloud environments?

While multicloud offers significant advantages, it also presents complex challenges that require strategic management:

  • Complexity of integration: Managing multiple cloud environments demands sophisticated integration strategies. Organizations must develop robust frameworks to ensure seamless data exchange, consistent security protocols, and unified management across diverse platforms.
  • Security and compliance: Maintaining consistent security standards across multiple cloud providers requires comprehensive governance frameworks. Businesses must implement advanced authentication mechanisms, encryption protocols, and continuous monitoring to protect sensitive data and meet regulatory requirements.
  • Skills and resource requirements: Multicloud strategies necessitate specialized technical expertise. Organizations must invest in training and hiring professionals capable of managing complex, distributed cloud infrastructures and navigating the nuances of different cloud platforms.

What are some multicloud management best practices?

Successful multicloud management demands a sophisticated and holistic approach that addresses technical, operational, and human aspects of cloud infrastructure. Organizations must develop comprehensive strategies that balance innovation with security, efficiency with compliance, and agility with control.

Unified governance framework

A robust governance framework serves as the foundation for effective multicloud management. Organizations must develop and implement comprehensive policies that standardize security protocols, compliance requirements, and operational procedures across all cloud environments. This framework should include clear data classification guidelines, access control policies, risk management procedures, and compliance monitoring mechanisms. Regular audits and updates ensure the framework evolves with changing business needs and regulatory requirements.

Advanced monitoring tools

Implementing a sophisticated cloud management platform is essential for maintaining visibility and control across distributed environments. These tools must provide real-time, end-to-end visibility into performance metrics, cost analytics, and potential security vulnerabilities. Modern monitoring solutions should offer predictive analytics capabilities, automated alerting systems, and comprehensive reporting features. Integration with existing security information and event management (SIEM) systems ensures comprehensive threat detection and response capabilities.

Continuous skills development

The dynamic nature of cloud technology requires ongoing investment in team capabilities and expertise. Organizations must establish comprehensive training programs that keep IT teams current with evolving multicloud technologies, security practices, and management strategies. This includes certification programs, hands-on workshops, and regular knowledge-sharing sessions. Creating a culture of continuous learning ensures teams can effectively leverage new cloud capabilities while maintaining security and operational excellence.

Cross-platform integration strategy

Success in multicloud environments requires a well-planned integration strategy for seamless data flow and application interaction across platforms. This strategy should address API management, data synchronization, and service mesh implementation to ensure consistent performance and reliability. Organizations must develop standardized integration patterns and protocols that can be replicated across different cloud environments while maintaining security and compliance requirements.

Performance optimization and cost management

Regular performance monitoring and cost optimization are crucial for maintaining efficient multicloud operations. Organizations should implement automated tools for resource scaling, workload balancing, and cost tracking across all cloud platforms. This includes establishing clear metrics for performance evaluation, implementing automated scaling policies, and regularly reviewing resource allocation to ensure optimal cost efficiency without compromising performance or reliability.

What are multicloud investments and returns like?

The transition to a multicloud strategy represents a significant organizational investment that extends beyond mere financial considerations. While initial costs include technology acquisition, expertise development, and infrastructure adaptation, the long-term value proposition is compelling.

Organizations must consider both direct costs (licensing, infrastructure, training) and indirect costs (operational changes, temporary productivity impacts) against the substantial benefits of enhanced flexibility, risk mitigation, and technological advancement.

The return on investment manifests through multiple channels: reduced vendor lock-in leads to better negotiating positions, workload optimization across platforms improves cost efficiency, and the ability to leverage specialized services from different providers enhances operational capabilities. Organizations typically see improvements in disaster recovery capabilities, enhanced performance through geographical distribution, and increased innovation potential through access to diverse cloud services.

What are some multicloud deployment considerations?

Successfully implementing a multicloud strategy requires careful planning and a methodical approach to ensure seamless integration while minimizing operational disruptions. Organizations must consider multiple facets of their technology landscape, from existing infrastructure to future scalability needs, before embarking on their multicloud journey. The following outlines essential considerations and steps organizations should take when planning and executing their multicloud deployment strategy.

Comprehensive infrastructure assessment

Before implementing a multicloud strategy, organizations must thoroughly evaluate their existing infrastructure. This includes analyzing current workloads, identifying application dependencies, and assessing network capabilities. The assessment should document current performance benchmarks, security protocols, and compliance requirements while identifying potential gaps or challenges in the current infrastructure that could impact multicloud adoption.

Performance and security requirements

Organizations need to establish detailed performance metrics and security standards that align with business objectives. This involves:

  • Defining specific performance benchmarks for different workload types
  • Establishing minimum security requirements across all cloud environments
  • Creating compliance monitoring and reporting frameworks
  • Determining data protection and privacy standards
  • Setting availability and disaster recovery requirements

Cloud provider selection

Choosing the right mix of cloud providers requires careful evaluation against business needs:

  • Assess each provider's service offerings against specific workload requirements
  • Compare geographical presence and data center locations
  • Evaluate provider-specific security certifications and compliance standards
  • Consider provider stability, market position, and innovation trajectory
  • Analyze pricing models and service level agreements

Integration and management framework

Developing a robust integration and management framework is crucial for long-term success:

  • Create standardized processes for workload deployment and management
  • Establish clear protocols for data movement and synchronization
  • Implement comprehensive monitoring and alerting systems
  • Define incident response and escalation procedures
  • Design automated scaling and optimization policies

This framework should be flexible enough to accommodate future changes while maintaining consistent governance across all cloud environments.

What are some multicloud capabilities that OpenText delivers?

Modern enterprises no longer view data as isolated resources but as strategic assets. OpenText's multicloud solutions provide the framework for breaking down traditional data silos. By offering a single source of truth across structured, unstructured, and complex data types, organizations can unlock unprecedented insights and operational efficiency.

Zero-copy data integration

OpenText's revolutionary zero-copy data approach eliminates the traditional complexities of data migration and helps organizations transform their fragmented data landscapes into unified, actionable intelligence.

This innovative strategy ensures:

  • Seamless data exchange across different cloud and on-premises infrastructures
  • Maintenance of a single source of truth across varied data types
  • Preservation of data integrity without multiple redundant copies

Comprehensive data management

OpenText treats all data types with equal importance, supporting:

  • Structured data: Structured data is the most organized form of enterprise information. It exists in predefined, systematic formats with clear, consistent characteristics. Databases, spreadsheets, and transactional records represent the quintessential examples of structured data. Financial systems, customer relationship management platforms, and inventory tracking tools rely heavily on this highly predictable data type.

  • Unstructured data: Unstructured data represents the complex, free-form information that defies traditional organizational patterns. Documents, multimedia content, emails, and communication logs fall into this category. These data types require sophisticated artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques for meaningful analysis and integration. Their flexibility makes them both challenging and valuable for enterprise insights.

  • Complex enterprise assets: Complex enterprise assets bridge the gap between technical infrastructure and business operations. These intricate data types include IT configurations, network topology maps, supply chain tracking information, and compliance documentation. They represent the most nuanced and interconnected data within an organization, demanding advanced management and integration strategies.

The OpenText Cloud

The OpenText™ Cloud platform offers stable, streamlined operations, advanced security standards, steady deployment and upgrades, and AI readiness.

With OpenText Cloud, you can simplify operations and consolidate applications for better efficiency and security. And automation reduces errors while kicking workflows into high gear. What’s more, you have the flexibility to choose private cloud, public cloud, or a hybrid deployment.

The platform's core strength lies in its always-on availability and trusted, purpose-built information management approach. This means organizations can rely on a consistent, secure, and highly responsive cloud environment that adapts to their evolving technological needs. The commitment to continuous innovation is exemplified by the recent Cloud Editions 25.1 release.

Unlike traditional cloud solutions that create additional complexity, OpenText focuses on simplification. The OpenText Cloud platform ensures seamless data exchange across critical enterprise platforms like SAP, Salesforce, and Microsoft, creating a cohesive ecosystem. By delivering AI and automation solutions that genuinely simplify cloud operations, OpenText transforms multicloud management from a technical challenge into a strategic advantage.

Multicloud is no longer a futuristic concept but a critical business strategy for organizations seeking technological agility and competitive advantage. By understanding its complexities and leveraging sophisticated solutions like these from OpenText, businesses can transform their cloud infrastructure into a powerful, flexible, and secure ecosystem.

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Footnotes