Starting the Multi-Cloud

Journey
Dr. Anitha H M
Understanding cloud vocabulary

•CMP: A Cloud Management Platform provides a platform that enables management across
various clouds, public and private. It allows management with one single interface,instead of
having to go through different cloud portals
Cloud Native: This indicates that applications and software were particularly written for cloud
usage.
Host: This is the physical machine that sits in the data center of the cloud provider that hosts the
guest environments of customers.
Virtual Machine: A virtual machine runs on the physical host, but acts as a complete server.
Hypervisor:
Hybrid: Typically, this is to indicate that a cloud platform uses both public clouds, such as AWS or Azure and private clouds
that run in the data center of the company itself or a third-party data center.

• Load Balancing: If we run multiple resources such as servers, databases, and storage spaces, we need a mechanism that
divides the load over these resources.

Multi-tenancy: This is probably the most important term to remember in the cloud, especially in terms of privacy, and
keeping our data safe and secure in our own environment, meaning that only authorized users can view the data inside that
tenant

Resource: This is the term that is used for components that are used in the cloud to run applications, save data, and
execute services.

Scalability: Because of virtualization, shared resources, load balancing, and multi -tenancy,the cloud is scalable. Companies
use what they need at a certain time. They can scale up when demand is high and scale down in more quiet times.

UI: The user interface. At the end of the day, operators and developers must be able to work with the resources in the
cloud.
 Planning assessments
readiness of the organization to adopt the cloud, just like the Cloud Adoption
Framework advises.
“Who are all the stakeholders that need to be involved in the activities?”
“Will the migration impact the customer, thus the business, and in what way?
What are the drivers to start the transition and transformation to a cloud platform?”
Is an assessment necessary? The short answer is: yes
Capability Maturity Model, or CMM
Level 1—initial is the lowest level, where processes are
poorly controlled and outcomes are highly unpredictable.
In the cloud, this would mean that organizations would
simply start building environments in a cloud without
proper processes or defining what the result should be.
Level 5 is the highest level, where organizations can
focus on improvements since projects and management
are well-defined, processes are under control, and
outcomes are predictable and measurable.
Cloud providers are responsible for the cloud (the data center), and customers are
responsible for what’s in the cloud (the virtual servers in the data center and the
data).

Is an organization ready to start working in such a model?

Readiness is the first topic in any assessment.

Common steps in an assessment
1. Set the scope.
2. Identify all infrastructure components.
3. Identify all applications and application components
4. Identify security requirements, including existing policies and security guardrails
5. Identify all stakeholders that must be involved in migrating to the cloud, including
6. business and application owners.

One of the challenges that many enterprises face is the availability of resources. It’s recommended
to assess the availability of resources: does the company have the right people with the required
skills to execute the transformation?
Executing technology mapping and governance
The deployment and management of technology needs proper planning.

First, technology must be assessed against the goals(business goals) a company wants to achieve.

Second, a company must be ready to adopt new technology.

We have identified the two main blockers to the successful implementation of technology, including the cloud:

● It might not add value to the business

● There are no human resources available who can work with it
Technology mapping can help here. It typically starts with defining the use cases:
what will the technology be used for?

Next, it’s assessed against the existing portfolio to determine how the technology
must be implemented and integrated within the processes and technology base of
the company.

The final step is actual planning

Keeping track of innovation
How do companies keep track of all the innovations?

First of all, not every new service might be beneficial for your company

Services need to fit the business ambition, strategy, and goals—as with everything

Most innovations can be categorized as features that either make working in the cloud easier (automation), more efficient
(cost and efficient use of multiple data sources), or open up new possibilities for businesses.

The major cloud providers organize yearly conferences where they announce major new features and releases of new
technology.

● Microsoft Ignite: This is the event for technology professionals and developers working with Microsoft technologies,
including Azure.
● AWS Re.invent: The technology conference of AWS, which annually shows new products and releases.
● AWS business events: This platform is for business leaders, providing opportunities to discuss how AWS can help
expand the business.
Adopting innovations
Adopting innovations is a matter of culture in the first place, but the most important
thing is that innovations must be triggered by the business. Innovations must lead
to added value.
The challenge for every innovation is to question what benefit it will bring to the
customers of a company, and what added value is involved.common ambitions of
modern companies. These are commonly grouped into customer experience,
sustainability, and financial efficiency. If these are the greater ambitions of a
company, then innovations must be challenged against these ambitions.
Given the overall business ambition, is it worth the investment, and how will it
impact financial performance?

EX.Serverless functions were a great innovation in cloud technology.

To summarize, innovations must be significant to the business. They must lead to

added value and add to the overall business ambition of a company.
Defining roadmaps and business alignment

Core Idea: North Star Architecture in Digital Transformation

● North Star Architecture is a guiding vision or future-state blueprint for an enterprise's digital landscape.

● It helps align teams around a common ambition and allows them to iterate toward it using agile principles.

● The architecture is not static — it evolves with each iteration, adapting as needed.

The Challenge: Without Guardrails, Iteration Can Go Astray

● Agile teams may develop in silos without centralized interoperability standards, leading to:

○ Redundant work (e.g., reinventing features that already exist)

○ Fragmented systems that are hard to integrate

○ Missed opportunities to use readily available cloud-native services

The Solution: Business-Integrated Roadmaps

To prevent this, roadmaps must be business-integrated, which means:

1. Start with the Business Model: Understand how the enterprise creates, delivers, and captures value.

2. Translate into Business Functionality: Define what the enterprise needs to do to support that model.

3. Map to Applications & Data:

○ Determine which applications support which business functions.

○ Understand the data requirements of these functions — what data is needed, when, and why.

4. Finally, Map to Technology:

○ Align the above with the current and future-state technology stack (e.g., APIs, platforms, cloud services).
Planning transition and transformation
A transition plan will consist of the following items

Discovery of assets:

One other important topic in discovery is that we need to establish all interactions
in the environment. What workload is connected to other workloads? This involves
routing, database usage, (shared) storage, backups, and the security settings in
an environment.

•Last but not least, we need to identify how the assets are operated and by whom.
Assessing the assets against the business plan: The architect needs to define a
target architecture and a target operating model. Both must comply with some
principles before the actual build can start. A multi-cloud strategy and architecture
must ensure consistency across the targeted platforms.

it’s important to take quality attributes into account:

There are two more things that architects already must consider in
this stage:
Security: Here’s the statement: already, public clouds are extremely well
secured.Cloud providers don’t have a choice in securing their platforms, with
thousands of customers that work with their services and run (critical) business
processes.
Cost control: Companies must be aware of the costs that they are generating by
using cloud services. The cloud can be complex in terms of costs, metering, and Billing
Planning: This will involve all activities needed to actually perform the migration and
the transformation of the workloads. Typically
 INTRODUCTION TO MULTI CLOUD

•Use of multiple cloud service providers for different business functions. Eg:SaaS applications like Microsoft Office
365, Salesforce, AWS, GCP.

It is sometimes very importance of Gathering Requirements

•Ensuring the right choices for cloud adoption.
•Using frameworks like TOGAF (The Open Group Architecture Framework).
•QFD (Quality Function Deployment) helps capture the Voice of the Customer (VOC).
Business & Organizational Impact
•Any transformation starts with people.
•Organizational changes are key to successful digital transformation.
 UNDERSTANDING MULTI – CLOUD CONCEPT

• Multi-cloud refers to the use of two or more cloud computing systems at the
same time. The deployment might use public clouds, private clouds, or some
combination of the two. Multi-cloud deployments aim to offer redundancy in
case of hardware/software failures and avoid vendor lock-in.
• The major public cloud offerings today are AWS, Microsoft Azure, and GCP.
• Companies rent cloud services without needing to invest in their own
datacentres.
• Multi-cloud creates added value by combining solutions from different
platforms.
 MULTI-CLOUD MORE THAN JUST PUBLIC AND PRIVATE

1. There’s a difference between hybrid IT and multi-cloud, where hybrid

platforms are homogeneous and multi-cloud platforms are
heterogeneous.
2. Hybrid combines on-premises and cloud, while multi-cloud involves
two or more cloud providers.
3. Security and latency are key reasons for companies to maintain
hybrid environments.
4. Some data regulations restrict storing sensitive information outside
specific regional borders, influencing cloud adoption.
5. Applications sensitive to latency, such as print servers and warehouse
tracking systems, benefit from on-premises solutions.
 INTRODUCING THE MAIN PLAYERS IN THE FIELD

• Public clouds provide computing services via

third-party providers over the internet, while
private clouds offer dedicated resources to
select users.
• Major public cloud providers include AWS,
Azure, GCP, Oracle Cloud, and Alibaba Cloud,
while private cloud solutions rely on VMware,
Hyper-V, and extensions like Azure Stack and
AWS Outposts.
• Hybrid solutions help companies balance
security, compliance, and workload migration
by integrating private and public cloud
environments.
 INTRODUCING THE IN PLAYER IN THE FIELD

1. Cloud started as shared datacenter resources but evolved into

various service models.

2. IaaS enables virtual machine migration, while PaaS lets users run
applications without managing infrastructure.

3. SaaS, FaaS, and CaaS simplify cloud usage by handling software,

serverless computing, and container management, enhancing
efficiency.
 SETTING OUT A REAL STRATERGY FOR MULTI-CLOUD

1. A cloud strategy emerges from business goals such as creating brand awareness, releasing products faster, and
improving profit margins.

2. Enterprise architecture frameworks like TOGAF help translate business goals into IT strategies, alongside IT4IT
and ITIL practices.

3. The ADM cycle (Business, Data, Applications, Technology) ensures a structured approach to multi-cloud adoption
while keeping technology transparent.

4. Multi-cloud offers flexibility but also brings complexity, making a focused strategy crucial for effective
management.

5. Businesses are increasingly recognizing IT as a core function, shifting from outsourced IT models to multi-cloud
solutions.

6. A good strategy should be "cloud-fit," ensuring companies adopt the right cloud solutions instead of prioritizing
multi-cloud or single cloud approaches.