The Charge of the Multicloud Brigade

If your organization is utilizing a cloud service, odds are it’s utilizing multiple clouds, as are 55% of technology decision makers surveyed by IDG. It makes sense: with multiple as-a-service options,  for example, the multicloud environment offers a wide assortment of benefits.

But when multiple clouds rely on different management structures and processes, it can add up to real complexity. That’s was foremost among the sentiments of IT pros and influencers participating in a Feb. 11 #IDGTECHtalk Twitter chat on the challenges of implementing a multicloud strategy, sponsored by @GlobalNTT.

‘Strategic’ may not be the route undertaken by many, participants were quick to point out.

That assumes we’re #multicloud because of some kind of #strategy and it’s not a series of disconnected, tactical responses to specific business/#IT challenges. Being strategic about it at all can reduce the headaches… Chris@CPetersen_CS

Biggest 1st challenge I see is clients going multi-cloud before they get one cloud right. Cloud is a huge transformation of process and culture, trying to deal with that and multi at same time a big challenge. Ed Featherston@efeatherston

Businesses today ARE #multicloud. Not because they intended to be, but because they made a bunch of individual decisions that make sense in their context. But requires #CIO and service provider mindset to mesh, simplify, and provide #cybersecurity. Wayne Anderson@DigitalSecArch

A non-strategic path to multicloud can lead to unfortunate and unforeseen consequences:

For most orgs, multicloud = multi-headache. As all of those significant cloud issues, #infosec, #privacy, #encryption, etc., are multiplied and have to effectively work together. Multicloud makes that a huge challenge. Ben Rothke@benrothke

#TECHTALKers didn’t hold back on what advice they’d offer IT leaders:

Come up with a multi cloud strategy to avoid vendor lock-in. When you focus on one [cloud service provider], it is easy to buy all their services that will not work with other CSPs. George Gerchow@georgegerchow

Optimize where possible but don’t get stuck in optimization only. When moving to #multicloud remember that bad processes can exponentially become worse and sometimes even undetectable until it’s too late. Arsalan Khan @ArsalanAKhan

With multicloud often playing a critical role in digital transformation, #TECHTALKers weighed in on how the COVID-19 pandemic spurred many to compress their #DX timeframes:

Many of the clients went rushing into #DX and hit brick walls. The biggest lessons learned: #digitaltransformation must be business first, technology second. #holistic approach is required and process redesign, takes priority over people or technology. Joanne Friedman@joannefriedman

I’ve been leading, advising, guiding, writing and speaking about digital transformation for 10+ years. Orgs that started now are late. But can catch up. Isaac Sacolick@nyike (session moderator)

It’s great to hear that, Isaac. Irrespective of the pandemic, the need for #DigitalTransformation can be independently established. However, it remains a fact that the rate of adoption has been quite slow. Ashish Belagali@belagali17

That’s just a taste of the discussion. Check out more, including some interesting insights into the state of work from home, at @idgtechtalk.

For more information, read 4 Ways a Multi-cloud Strategy Can Shape an Organization.

And learn how NTT can help simplify multicloud management at https://hello.global.ntt/en-us/insights/2020-managed-services.