Multi-Cloud, Hybrid Cloud, Public Cloud

The New Role of Cloud Services in the Modern Enterprise

Table of Contents

  1. Summary
  2. Public Cloud to the Forefront
  3. Your Plan of Action
  4. Conclusion

1. Summary

Right now we’re moving into “Chapter Two” of cloud migration. (We’ll talk more about Chapter One below.) Chapter Two involves the applications and data stores, which are either more difficult to migrate to the cloud, and are net-new applications that leverage enabling technology such as AI, hybrid, and multi-cloud. How we proceed through this second chapter will define how we move forward in the next several years. The future is hybrid and multi-cloud driven while leveraging cloud native systems and tooling.

The core of the problem is: how are enterprises leveraging native cloud services effectively? Moreover, how will the next generation of applications, built net-new and cloud-migrated, be hosted on public clouds or traditional systems? What will be the key technologies? What are the steps to success?

Organizations need to figure out how to take control of their cloud projects right now, or they risk being tactically focused on ineffective technology mechanisms. Thus, a few key recommendations or best practices on how to be successful with cloud services are needed. What works and what does not? Conclusions reached in this paper include:

  • Select open technologies wherever possible, including open frameworks, open approaches, and open source systems.
  • Move to cloud native while migrating to hybrid or multi-cloud.
  • Take advantage of the hybrid cloud. Look for opportunities to utilize traditional systems paired with public cloud-based systems.
  • Leverage multi-cloud deployments. Using multi-cloud should be the new normal.
  • Implement containers, container orchestration, and microservices. Strategically leverage containers. Look for opportunities to use containers for application distribution in and between public cloud within your multi-cloud architecture.
  • Design standard architecture with common tools. As we move more toward cloud native architectures, we should focus on best practices and standards around common services and emerging best-of-breed tooling.
  • Integrate DevOps into processes. Integration, testing, and deployment must be automated for these applications to meet the expectations of the business.
  • Security should be considered systemic to everything, including application development, testing, deployment, and operations.