Multi-cloud vs hybrid cloud: which is right for your organization?

Are you wondering whether to use multi-cloud or hybrid cloud for your organization's Cloud deployment and management? Well, first of all, let's take a moment to commend you for considering cloud options. Cloud computing affords organizations flexibility, scalability, and agility; allowing them to quickly deploy and manage resources while keeping costs low.

Now, let's get back to the question at hand. Multi-cloud and hybrid cloud are two different cloud deployment strategies with slight but significant differences. The primary difference between multi-cloud and hybrid cloud is that multi-clouds use more than one public cloud provider, whereas hybrid clouds use both public and private clouds.

So, which is best for your organization?

Multi-cloud

If you decide to opt for multi-cloud deployment, you'll use more than one public cloud provider to host your applications, data, and workloads. The primary reason organizations opt for multi-cloud is cost. Using more than one cloud provider generally results in a reduction in costs, since you could only pay for what you use, and each public cloud provider has its unique strengths and weaknesses.

For instance, while Google has an excellent AI and machine learning, AWS is known for its extensive computing infrastructure, and Microsoft Azure is popular for its integration with Windows servers.

Another key advantage of multi-cloud deployments is redundancy. Using more than one public cloud service translates to the distribution of the risk of data loss to more than one providers, ensuring that your workloads are available even in the event of an outage.

However, using more than one public cloud service also comes with its drawbacks, such as increased complexity in the deployment process. Deploying apps, data, and workloads, requires setting up network connections and middleware services, which may differ from one public cloud service to another.

Best use cases for multi-cloud

Multi-cloud deployment is excellent for organizations that require optimized performance, cost management and redundancy across their workloads.

• Data-driven organizations: Businesses that are data-driven and rely on real-time data analytics can benefit from multi-cloud deployment. Multi-cloud deployment provides such organizations with access to different data processing tools and infrastructure, allowing you to select the most appropriate service from a provider, which meets their needs while keeping costs low.

• Companies expanding globally: Organizations that are expanding beyond their original geographical location can benefit from multi-cloud services. Different public cloud providers have data centers in different geographical locations, providing an opportunity to mirror the data in different regions, resulting in low latency and high availability of the applications globally.

• Organizations looking for High availability in the event of disasters: Businesses that are prone to disasters, such as natural calamities, can leverage multi-cloud deployment to ensure high availability of their workloads. Since multi-cloud deployments use multiple public cloud service providers, they are more likely to be available during disasters than single public cloud provider deployments.

Hybrid Cloud

In contrast to multi-cloud, Hybrid cloud deployments use both private and public cloud options. In hybrid cloud deployment, you host some of your applications, data, and workload in a private cloud while also utilizing one or more public cloud services.

A private cloud is a cloud solution designed for the organization’s exclusive use. It could be located on-site or in a data center, with access restricted to only authorized personnel.

One significant factor driving the adoption of hybrid cloud deployment is data privacy and local compliance. Private cloud ensures that your company's sensitive data is stored in a highly secure location with no access to third parties. At the same time, public cloud services can be used to store non-sensitive data, reducing the cost of storing that data locally.

Another significant advantage of hybrid cloud is the flexibility it offers organizations. Organizations can manage peak workloads and data spikes using burstable public cloud services, which reduces the total cost of ownership.

Best use cases for hybrid cloud

• Security-Critical Business Operations: Regulatory compliance and data privacy are critical requirements for businesses that deal with sensitive data. By utilizing the private cloud, organizations can ensure that they have control over their data, and that data encryption and access controls are compliant with local regulations, while still being able to utilize public cloud services' agility and scalability.

• Large corporations: organizations with complex and diverse systems can benefit from a hybrid cloud deployment. Some large corporations have legacy systems that are not compatible with public cloud deployment, while others may have systems that are sensitive or high-performance. By using hybrid cloud, organizations can deliver a customized solution to meet each system's needs, ensuring that each has the appropriate workload allocation.

• Businesses looking for flexibility and cost management: organizations with dynamic workloads that can change rapidly can leverage the burstable public cloud to manage peak workloads while using the private cloud for baseline performance requirements, allowing them to keep costs low while ensuring workload availability at all times.

Conclusion

When it comes to multi-cloud vs. hybrid cloud deployment, the answer depends on your organization's specific requirements. Each form of deployment offers unique benefits that must be considered before settling on a decision. While multi-cloud offers cost optimization, redundancy, and flexibility, hybrid cloud offers a balance between security, cost optimization, and flexibility.

It is essential to assess your organization's business, technical, and security requirements when deciding on the best deployment option. If the majority of your organization's workloads are driven by data analytics and real-time insights, multi-cloud may be the best option. Hybrid cloud, on the other hand, may be an excellent fit for businesses that require control of their sensitive data while leveraging the agility of public cloud services.

In conclusion, a multicloud deployment approach may be an excellent choice for organizations that want to maximize their flexibility, scalability, and cost-efficiency while also having a level of control over their sensitive data. A hybrid cloud deployment, on the other hand, may be a better choice for organizations that need to balance security, cost, and flexibility. Regardless of the deployment option of choice, it’s crucial for businesses to have a proper cloud management system in place to ensure that your organization gets the most out of your cloud investment.

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