Short term cloud service providers have popped up over the past couple of years trying to get their fingers into the cloud cookie jar. As such, many have learned the business of cloud computing is ruthless. That’s one of the reasons that it is important to choose an experienced managed service provider. Cloud companies that have been around for decades, like TOSS C3, have the know-how and the staying power to offer cloud architectures for any sized business.

Many companies have had the unfortunate poor luck of sticking all their cloud needs into one basket. They have found that by having one cloud service provider they run the risk of losing all their software, hardware, and storage needs if the provider closes its doors. Countless enterprise companies have tried to incorporate a single provider into their architectures, but as of late, have learned the best way may be to use multiple providers to ensure their data, and daily workflow will remain safe. Be sure to:

The Multi-Cloud Strategy

First, understand that multi-cloud and hybrid are two different animals. Many companies are still using the two infrastructures synonymously, but in fact, they are not the same. A hybrid infrastructure uses two or more cloud strategies, such as; private and public. A hybrid may or may not be multi-cloud.

Multi-cloud is when two or more cloud service providers are used to meet all of your IT department’s needs. Download our cloud report to learn the 5 facts every business executive must know before moving to the cloud.

Should You Have a Local Data Center?

As a general rule, it is not a good idea to have your data center localized. Under any solid disaster recovery plan, it is important to have data stored farther away in case of a natural disaster that may hit your main office and the data center simultaneously. However, under a multi-cloud strategy enterprises have learned it is good to have a localized data center, as well as a data center further away. The reasoning for this is latency issues. If it is connected to the Internet then there will be latency issues, period.

The further away the data is stored, the more data nodes it has to touch to get back to your office. Each node may have additional latency issues depending on traffic traveling through the node at any moment. Localized data means fewer nodes and faster response times. It is important to have at least one other cloud service provider that handles your data from afar. This serves as a backup away from the localized area, which secures data from a natural disaster, as well as, from a cloud service provider going out of business. Check out the white paper: Managed IT Services For Small Businesses.

The Needs of the Many…

Enterprises have to look at different cloud strategies across multiple departments, and in most cases, different locations. Cloud service providers may not have what the companies need at every location. Developers need very high-speed internet, but the people in HR do not. It is not uncommon for enterprises to incorporate different cloud strategies for different departments. According to NetworkWorld, “Nearly a third of organizations work with four or more cloud vendors.” By separating the duties across a multi-cloud platform enterprise-sized companies ensure groups won’t step on each other’s toes when it comes to performance.

Managing the Multi-Cloud

Cloud computing for business seemed to be so cut and paste a couple of years ago. Now, organizations are looking at ways to complete the cycle, which never seemed to be finished in the first place. So, we look at going multi-cloud which means we go through multiple cloud service providers to give us a product we thought we were getting through a single service. The problem is, the cloud is just too big. There are too many variances and two many differing needs for one application or a single provider to handle properly.

Managing several solutions through multiple providers sounds like a nightmare. How is IT going to keep up with it? The answer is automation. Enterprises are already building front-end dashboards to accommodate multiple vendors. Software companies have already designed CMPs (Cloud Management Platforms) for larger applications, and smaller applications can work coherently with many of the larger products. So, the “single pane of glass” concept is still working at the moment.

According to InformationWeek, “the typical public cloud user adopts 1.5 service providers for running apps and another 1.5 for experimentation. In addition, the same user is likely to run applications on 1.7 private clouds and experiment with 1.3 private clouds.” Even with a possible six cloud service providers will manage these systems using a single management solution to integrate public and private clouds. This single view tracks all alerts, virtual machines, and other services. Subscribe to the TOSS C3 blog, and find out more about multi-cloud solutions.

Multi-cloud strategies are not new. They were here, and then they were gone, now they are back. To implement a solid multi-cloud strategy it is important to know what your company needs are and to find what cloud service providers can meet those demands. Once that is figured out, all that is left is making sure the multiple cloud solutions work together. A little work and a good set of strategies make the multi-cloud solution the optimal way to go for businesses.