How can you manage risks in a multi-cloud environment?

Multi-cloud is the use of multiple cloud providers and services to achieve business goals and optimize costs, performance, and resilience. However, multi-cloud also introduces new risks and challenges for IT operations management, such as security, compliance, integration, and governance. How can you manage these risks effectively and ensure a smooth multi-cloud experience? Here are some tips and best practices to consider.

1 Assess your multi-cloud readiness

Before you adopt a multi-cloud strategy, you need to evaluate your current IT infrastructure, processes, and skills. You need to identify your business objectives, requirements, and expectations for each cloud service and provider. You also need to assess the compatibility, interoperability, and portability of your applications and data across different cloud platforms. Finally, you need to determine your budget, resources, and timeline for the multi-cloud transition and operation.

Add your perspective

Fabrizio Magistrelli

Global Director of Enterprise Technology @ South Pole | Driving Digital Transformation
Report contribution
From my personal journey towards embracing a multi-cloud approach: Transitioning into a multi-cloud environment isn't just about diving into multiple platforms. For me, it began with an introspective look at our existing IT setup, workflows, and the expertise we housed. I had to align and dissect our core business goals, specific needs, and the expectations we held for each cloud service. I found it crucial to ascertain how seamlessly our applications and data would move and interact across these diverse cloud ecosystems. And, of course, before any leap, I needed a clear picture of our budgetary constraints, the manpower, and the timeframes we were working with to ensure a smooth shift and management of the multi-cloud strategy.

Like

2 Choose the right cloud providers and services

One of the benefits of multi-cloud is that you can choose the best cloud provider and service for each use case and workload. However, this also means that you need to do your research and compare the features, costs, performance, reliability, and support of different cloud options. You need to consider factors such as data sovereignty, regulatory compliance, service level agreements, scalability, and availability. You also need to weigh the trade-offs between standardization and customization, and between vendor lock-in and flexibility.

Add your perspective

Brent Walters

Marketing Automation Specialist @ Racing Victoria
Report contribution
Choosing the right cloud provider and services involves a structured process. Begin by defining your specific requirements, considering factors like scalability, budget, and security. Assess your workloads and budget constraints, then research major cloud providers like AWS, Azure, and GCP. Evaluate security, compliance, performance, and service offerings. Review support options and SLAs and consider the provider's ecosystem. Conduct tests and cost analyses, be mindful of vendor lock-in, and clarify data governance. Seek feedback and negotiate contracts. Develop a migration plan and prioritize monitoring and optimization. Continually evaluate your choice to ensure it aligns with evolving organizational needs.

Like

3 Implement a multi-cloud security strategy

Security is one of the most critical and complex aspects of multi-cloud management. You need to protect your data and applications from cyberattacks, data breaches, and unauthorized access across multiple cloud environments. You need to implement a multi-cloud security strategy that covers identity and access management, encryption, firewalls, backup and recovery, monitoring and auditing, and incident response. You also need to follow the security policies and best practices of each cloud provider and service.

Add your perspective

4 Integrate and orchestrate your multi-cloud resources

Another challenge of multi-cloud management is how to integrate and orchestrate your multi-cloud resources effectively and efficiently. You need to ensure that your applications and data can communicate and interact seamlessly across different cloud platforms and services. You need to use tools and technologies that enable automation, configuration management, deployment, scaling, and optimization of your multi-cloud resources. You also need to establish a clear and consistent multi-cloud governance framework that defines the roles, responsibilities, and rules for managing your multi-cloud resources.

Add your perspective

5 Monitor and optimize your multi-cloud performance

To ensure that your multi-cloud strategy delivers the expected results and benefits, you need to monitor and optimize your multi-cloud performance regularly. You need to measure and analyze the key metrics and indicators of your multi-cloud resources, such as availability, latency, throughput, cost, and quality. You need to use tools and dashboards that provide a comprehensive and unified view of your multi-cloud performance. You also need to adjust and optimize your multi-cloud resources according to the changing demands and conditions of your business.

Add your perspective

6 Learn and improve from your multi-cloud experience

Finally, you need to learn and improve from your multi-cloud experience. You need to collect and review feedback and insights from your stakeholders, customers, and users about your multi-cloud services and solutions. You need to identify and address the gaps, issues, and challenges that arise from your multi-cloud management. You also need to explore and adopt new and emerging technologies and practices that can enhance your multi-cloud capabilities and outcomes.

Add your perspective

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

Add your perspective

How can you manage risks in a multi-cloud environment?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Assess your multi-cloud readiness

2 Choose the right cloud providers and services

3 Implement a multi-cloud security strategy

4 Integrate and orchestrate your multi-cloud resources

5 Monitor and optimize your multi-cloud performance

6 Learn and improve from your multi-cloud experience

7 Here’s what else to consider

IT Operations Management

Rate this article

Thanks for your feedback

More articles on IT Operations Management

More relevant reading

How can you manage risks in a multi-cloud environment?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Assess your multi-cloud readiness

2 Choose the right cloud providers and services

3 Implement a multi-cloud security strategy

4 Integrate and orchestrate your multi-cloud resources

5 Monitor and optimize your multi-cloud performance

6 Learn and improve from your multi-cloud experience

7 Here’s what else to consider

IT Operations Management

Rate this article

Thanks for your feedback

Explore Other Skills