However, the mistakes I have identified by observing the enterprise multi-cloud adoption process are completely different from what is generally thought. Many people might think that the problem is related to the misapplication of complex technology, but in reality, it is often a very obvious and well-known problem. I suspect this is due to my lack of experience with proper cloud computing architectures. In other words, it’s a kind of “pilot fault”. Here are three common multicloud mistakes. Of course, these are things companies can avoid.
Lack of common services and plans
Many people now understand the concepts of supercloud and metacloud, but the error of not composing common services in addition to public cloud services persists. Many companies waste millions of dollars because of this.
I’m not saying you just don’t follow best practices. This is a reality encountered when planning, building and deploying multicloud. Common service layers such as security, pinops, and observability should be built on top of all cloud services. For these features, we recommend that you do not use native tools that only work on a single cloud. Otherwise, it can lead to too much duplication, variety and complexity.
Studies have shown that companies that are too complex in terms of operations, security, monitoring, cost tracking, etc. will cost 2.5 times more to operate in multicloud. Of course, there’s no way the infrastructure itself will work well.
Avoid dependency on suppliers or obsession with cutting costs
There are many reasons why we use multicloud, but the biggest misunderstanding is the idea that we can avoid vendor lock-in and reduce costs with multicloud. Neither is true.
Let’s start with the dependency problem. Typically, when building apps in the cloud, you’ll take advantage of the best native features the cloud provider offers. Things like secure APIs and native services your app needs. This is practically the only way to meet the desired application requirements. With any other choice, application performance, functionality, and reliability will be lower than using native services, and you’ll end up paying more for the cloud to meet your needs.
As a result, this use of native services entails additional costs due to dependencies. In other words, moving applications built in one cloud to another requires significant code work to replace native services during the transition. After all, multicloud is not a way to avoid lockdown in principle.
Let’s also consider the issue of cost. Absolutely no multicloud is cheaper than a single cloud. The more cloud services you use, the more tasks you have to manage and the more specialized staff you need. Everything from technical support to security costs costs more. Of course, there are new values that businesses can take advantage of through multicloud, but that’s another matter altogether.
Some also say that using multiple public cloud providers gives you greater bargaining power over cloud costs. But, while plausible in theory, I’ve never seen a company get a huge discount this way. Realistically, every business already deals with one or more cloud providers. It is a mistake to think that only our company is special.
indifference to people’s problems
My advice is simple and clear. Before moving to multicloud (as with any other technology, in fact), make sure you have the culture and expertise you need. Many large IT teams create near-perfect multicloud plans and architectures, but miss the people they deploy those multiclouds for. Those who actually use this infrastructure do not understand why the architecture is configured this way, what role it plays and how it works. Probably, if you have related experience, many of you will agree with this point.
The truth is, techies, myself included, can have expertise in solving technical issues, but overlook people-related issues. Therefore, IT professionals must first consider this reality. You must plan ahead so that those who will use and operate the infrastructure understand and master the new skills. It’s also nice to show them how they collaborate and work with each other, including the operating model.
In summary, trying to avoid these three mistakes can avoid jeopardizing a company’s entire multicloud.
editor@itworld.co.kr
