As organizations increasingly find themselves operating in multiple clouds, IT leaders must get more intentional about how they address the resulting complexity, security issues, and cost concerns.
It’s the age of multicloud IT infrastructure. Organizations are increasingly using services from a variety of cloud providers, and in doing so, they are seeking to develop more intentional, cohesive multicloud strategies to avoid potential chaos and out-of-control costs.
Research firm Gartner forecasts worldwide public cloud spending will total $723 billion this year, up 21% from 2024. Driving that increase are the use of AI in IT and business operations, expanding cloud use cases, and a rise in distributed, hybrid, cloud-native, and multicloud environments.
Gartner also predicts that 90% of organizations will adopt a hybrid cloud approach through 2027, and that the most urgent generative AI challenge enterprises need to address over the next year will be data synchronization across hybrid and multicloud environments.
Flexibility is a key advantage of going multicloud. And IT leaders are dialing into that, with 90% of CIOs surveyed by HostingAdvice saying that no organization should put 100% of their infrastructure with one cloud supplier.
Nearly three quarters of respondents also said they are working with at least two “alt cloud” providers, with alt cloud defined as any cloud provider other than AWS, Microsoft, Google, IBM, or Oracle. Meanwhile, 63% of IT leaders are relying on two or three of the large-scale cloud service providers.
What are the key considerations for a multi-cloud strategy? Experts weigh in with these tips.
Get intentional with a full inventory of enterprise applications
Achieving a complete inventory of enterprise applications, using tools such as application portfolio management (APM), is vital to establishing a more intentional multicloud strategy.
Research firm Gartner notes that the main objective of APM “is to identify, prioritize and propose opportunities to improve the portfolio. Opportunities include replacements, migration, modernization, consolidation and decommissioning.”
APM can significantly assist with managing and optimizing applications deployed across multicloud environments. Some tools can track application performance metrics and ensure optimal user experience.
Taking an inventory of applications provides potential benefits such as enhanced visibility and control and cost optimization and reduction.
“We do take regular inventories of our applications, especially our SaaS costs, which vendors have largely shifted to over the last few years,” says Scott duFour, CIO at financial services provider Corpay.
“Renewal periods often bring significant price hikes with little or no added value, so we combat this by involving procurement in the negotiation process early,” duFour says. “We also look for overlapping solutions across departments so we can leverage the company’s size to negotiate more favorable terms.”
Tackle complexity with unified management and governance
For enterprises using dozens of cloud services from multiple providers, the level of complexity can quickly get out of hand, leading to chaos, runaway costs, and other issues. Managing this complexity needs to be a key part of any multicloud strategy.
“Managing multiple clouds is inherently complex, so unified management and governance are crucial,” says Randy Armknecht, a managing director and global cloud practice leader at business advisory firm Protiviti.
“Standardizing processes and tools across providers prevents chaos and maintains consistency,” Armknecht says. Cloud-native application protection platforms (CNAPP) — comprehensive security solutions that protect cloud-native applications from development to runtime — “provide foundational control enforcement and observability across providers,” he says.
Multicloud success also requires a review of organizational risk profiles, says Nigel Gibbons, director and senior advisor at cybersecurity consulting firm NCC Group. “It is important for organizations to carefully assess their needs and develop a comprehensive strategy for adopting and managing multicloud technologies,” he says.
The massive shift to clouds, with all its complexities, “now reaches into the business like never before, as organizations strive to develop their service and product by leveraging the constantly evolving opportunities cloud computing introduces,” Gibbons says.
Manage access and protect data with a comprehensive security plan
Cybersecurity is a big challenge for enterprises of all stripes, but it’s all the more so when working with multiple cloud services and vendors. A multicloud strategy needs to include provisions for managing access to services and protecting data — especially sensitive data such as customer information and intellectual property.
“It’s imperative to ensure that only authorized users have access to the multicloud environment and that they have the appropriate permissions to access specific data and applications,” Gibbons says. “It’s also critical to ensure that security policies are consistent across all cloud platforms and that there are no gaps in security that can be exploited by attackers.”
Protecting data in multicloud environments involves managing disparate APIs, configurations, and compliance requirements across vendors, Gibbons says. “Unlike single-cloud environments, multicloud increases the attack surface and requires abstraction layers [to] harmonize controls and visibility across platforms,” he says.
Security needs to be uniform across all cloud services in use, Armknecht adds. “Centralizing identity and access management and enforcing strong data protection policies are essential to close gaps that attackers or compliance auditors could exploit,” he says.
CNAPP assists with this, Armknecht says, but the most effective results come from strategically applying security tools such as encrypted and backed-up data at rest.
Use AI for automation and integration
As part of a multicloud strategy, enterprises can leverage AI tools to automate management tasks and the integration of cloud services.
AI “enhances efficiency by managing complex tasks like resource allocation, performance monitoring, and incident response,” Gibbons says.
“It enables intelligent integration across diverse platforms, reduces operational overhead, minimizes human error, and supports scalable, adaptive cloud environments with proactive insights for optimization and resilience,” Gibbons says. “Going forward, it will become increasingly hard to manage and operate cloud environments without AI augmentation.”
In a multicloud environment, “leveraging AI for automation of management tasks and integration of cloud services moves beyond general efficiency to directly address its distributed infrastructure,” says Scott Simari, principal at Sendero Consulting, who has led transformational projects and multicloud implementations for clients in various industries.
“One of the most common issues in multicloud is ‘sprawl’, which can happen quickly,” Simari says. “This occurs when diverse deployments create blind spots and inconsistencies for an organization. AI is a powerful solution to this by helping the organization ensure governance and consistency across clouds.”
Enterprises can automate governance by “codifying” policies directly into an AI engine, which then continuously scans and enforces these policies across all cloud environments using infrastructure-as-code and policy-as-code principles to maintain uniformity, Simari says.
Keep an eye on costs and usage to optimize spend
Using multiple cloud services can help companies save money by reducing operating expenses. “But it’s important to remember that the reduction of costs can also introduce new cost management challenges,” Gibbons says. “This includes the need to develop a comprehensive cost optimization strategy that considers factors such as workload placement, pricing models, and usage patterns across different cloud providers.”
This has birthed a new operational model, “FinOps” — financial operations, Gibbons says. “To reduce costs, start by optimizing resource utilization through rightsizing, auto-scaling, and eliminating idle resources,” he says. “Leverage cost-efficient pricing models, like reserved or spot instances, and assign workloads to the most cost-effective cloud provider.”
Proactive cost management is critical to prevent runaway expenses when using multiple clouds, Armknecht says. Monitoring usage and optimizing resources across providers prevents waste and ensures cost efficiency, he says. “Pay attention to data flow between clouds, as cost efficiency in a multicloud environment relies on cost-aware application and systems architecture,” he says.
“AI plays a crucial role in optimizing cloud spending by supporting FinOps efforts,” Simari says. “AI can leverage [machine learning] and analyze historical consumption data to forecast future needs and support the rightsizing of various cloud environments. This ensures that the organization is only allocating resources to the services they actually need.”
Leverage microservices and containers to ensure portability
Designing applications as microservices packaged in containers makes them portable and cloud-agnostic, Armknecht says. “This approach allows leveraging the best native services of each provider while avoiding lock-in and improving resilience,” he says. “Applications must be designed to be moved around.
For example, a microservice calling a Simple Storage Service (S3) bucket in AWS will continue to do so regardless of being hosted in AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform, Armknecht says.
Using microservices, native services, and containers enables application portability, scalability, and resilience, Gibbons says. “Microservices allow independent deployment, containers ensure consistent runtime environments, and native services optimize performance per cloud,” he says. “Together, they support faster development cycles, reduce vendor lock-in, and enhance agility across heterogeneous cloud platforms.”
Rethink the IT organization
The rise of the multicloud infrastructure in many cases might force enterprises to rethink their existing IT organization, not just in terms of architectural considerations but also in terms of skills, training, and talent.
Companies will need to redesign their operating models for a cloud-first world, Gibbons says. “It is vital for multicloud success,” he says. “It requires restructuring teams, investing in cross-platform training, and sourcing talent skilled in cloud-native tools and DevOps practices.”
Adapting roles and workflows fosters agility, enhances collaboration, and ensures effective governance across diverse cloud environments, minimizing risk and maximizing operational value, Gibbons says.
The primary organizational shift isn’t necessarily about rigid platform-specific teams, but rather about fostering a culture of continuous learning to stay current with evolving cloud technologies, Sendero’s Simari says.
“In my experience, I’ve seen members of IT teams attend conferences for different cloud providers to stay updated and informed,” Simari says. “The challenge is more about ensuring the IT organization is continuously keeping up to date on [cloud service provider] technologies, rather than a complete overhaul of team structures.”
Because of this, establishing a center of excellence becomes highly valuable, Simari says. “This can serve as a hub for shared knowledge, best practices and ongoing training,” he says. “The center of excellence allows IT organizations to be agile, up-to-date and capable of effectively managing resources across multiple cloud platforms.”
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