According to an article by Cisco's Pete Johnson, companies today are spreading their applications across multiple clouds in a hybrid fashion. According to a recent IDC CloudView study among 6,000 IT and line-of-business executives whose organizations have adopted cloud technologies, 73% are implementing a hybrid strategy, which most defined as utilizing more than one public cloud in addition to dedicated assets.
What is the best way to prepare for a hybrid cloud strategy that touches multiple public and private cloud vendors?
In some ways, the first step in this process is the easiest. Most hybrid cloud strategies begin with one private and two public clouds. On the private side, VMware’s giant install base is the typical choice, although some form of OpenStack or AzureStack offers viable alternatives or additions.
On the public side, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has long been the leader in this space, but Microsoft has done an impressive job at gaining ground with its Azure product.
By default, then, a hybrid cloud strategy would likely involve VMware, AWS, and Azure, but there are nuances that might lead an organization to choose differently or take an approach that encompasses more than just these three. On the public side, for example, a corporate agreement with IBM or Oracle may lead an organization toward a different conclusion. Or, if geography will be important—either due to concerns about latency or country-specific data privacy regulations—a choice like Alibaba Cloud might be included.
Similarly, there are instances in which a company may want a low-cost private cloud based on OpenStack for development and testing workloads to supplement production hosting on VMware. Or, in an attempt to leverage knowledge and training for a strategy that already includes Azure, an investment in Azure Stack for the private cloud may make sense.
To read Johnson's full article, go here.