Cloud computing has revolutionized how organizations store, manage, and process data. However, with the advent of new technologies and the increasing need for data mobility and flexibility, traditional cloud computing models are no longer sufficient. This is where hybrid and multi-cloud app solutions come into play.

Today, EDB offers enterprise-grade PostgreSQL and EDB Postgres Advanced Server solutions, renowned for their industry-leading Oracle compatibility. These solutions can be deployed in your data centers or with your preferred cloud service provider, available in both self-managed and fully-managed modes.

In this article, we will delve into the concepts of hybrid and multi-cloud, discussing their importance and their role in driving innovation in the cloud computing landscape. 

What Are Hybrid and Multi-Cloud App Solutions?

Hybrid cloud solutions combine public and private cloud services. A private cloud, sometimes called an internal or corporate cloud, is typically implemented on-premises. Hybrid clouds enable organizations to leverage the benefits of both public and private clouds. This approach combines the security and control of a private cloud with the scalability and cost-efficiency of a public cloud. By integrating these two environments, organizations can optimize their infrastructure to meet diverse business needs.

Multi-cloud solutions involve the use of multiple public cloud services from different providers. The primary goals of multi-cloud strategies are to utilize unique services offered by various hyperscalers simultaneously, minimize vendor lock-in, and enhance resilience by distributing workloads across multiple cloud environments. This approach allows organizations to take advantage of the best features from each cloud provider, improving overall performance and flexibility.

Why Are Hybrid and Multi-Cloud App Solutions Important?

Even with a “cloud first” strategy, some workloads may need to remain on-premises due to reasons such as data sensitivity or the necessity for proximity to other applications and databases. Consequently, many organizations adopt a hybrid model, seeking consistent management capabilities across both private and public clouds.

As companies advance their cloud implementations, they often pursue greater diversification and resiliency by leveraging multiple cloud service providers. Unlike earlier practices where hybrid and multi-cloud strategies might develop unintentionally—due to varying cloud strategies across different business lines or through the acquisition of companies with distinct cloud approaches—today’s organizations are more deliberate in developing and implementing these strategies. This conscious effort ensures they maximize the benefits of both hybrid and multi-cloud environments, enhancing flexibility, security, and performance.

Key Factors Underscoring the Importance of Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Solutions

• Flexibility: Hybrid and multi-cloud environments offer significant flexibility in workload placement. Organizations can move workloads to the most suitable environment based on application capability, performance, and cost requirements. This adaptability ensures optimal resource utilization and efficiency.
• Avoiding Vendor Lock-In: By utilizing multi-cloud solutions, organizations can reduce dependence on a single provider, mitigating the risks associated with vendor lock-in. This approach encourages competition among cloud providers, leading to potentially lower prices and improved service quality.
• Cost Optimization: Combining on-premises infrastructure with public cloud services allows organizations to achieve the best price-to-performance ratio. For instance, using public cloud services for burstable workloads can be more cost-effective than building for peak capacity on-premises. This strategy minimizes capital expenditure and ensures optimal utilization of on-premises infrastructure.
• Improved Resilience: Hybrid and multi-cloud environments enhance high availability by distributing workloads across multiple clouds and providers. Replicating data and applications across different cloud services or between public and private clouds ensures the availability of critical business functions during disruptions or provider failures. This approach also extends backup and disaster recovery solutions, promoting better fault tolerance.
• Enhanced Security and Compliance: Hybrid cloud solutions support robust security postures by allowing sensitive data to be hosted within private clouds while less-sensitive data resides in public clouds. This setup mitigates the risk of data breaches and cyber-attacks, potentially improving compliance with data privacy regulations. Distributing data and applications across multiple clouds reduces the risk of a single point of failure and minimizes the impact of a security breach on a single cloud service provider.
• Data Sovereignty: Data sovereignty requirements can pose challenges for organizations without a presence in the target jurisdiction. Leveraging a hyperscaler environment in the region in hybrid mode offers a solution. In some cases, a multi-cloud solution may be necessary if the existing cloud service provider does not offer services in the required region.
• Innovation: Hybrid and multi-cloud environments drive innovation by facilitating quick experimentation and testing of products and services in public clouds versus on-premises. This approach allows organizations to leverage differentiating application services offered by various cloud service providers, accelerating time to market and gaining a competitive advantage.

If Hybrid and Multi-cloud are so Great: Why Isn’t Everyone Doing it?

The short answer: Without the right tools and support, it can be complicated.

The slightly longer answer: In some cases, customers find themselves running hybrid or multi-cloud environments partly by accident or without as much planning as they would have liked, leading to some of the challenges outlined below:

• Integration and Compatibility: Offering a consistent consumer experience and parity in database offerings across private/public multi-cloud environments can be a challenge. Ensuring seamless integration and compatibility between different cloud service providers (CSPs) and on-premises systems is crucial for maintaining service quality.
• Cost and Complexity: Managing data across multiple cloud providers and on-premises systems requires an understanding of many provider offerings and tools. It can be expensive to source the necessary specialized skills and knowledge per provider to leverage different UIs/APIs or otherwise implement variations of key security concepts. As a result of implementation diversity across CSPs, meeting company internal compliance, security, support, and development standards may require increased staffing and longer lead times. Different cloud providers may necessitate different implementations to satisfy company security requirements, further complicating processes and increasing risk.
• Data and Database Consistency: Ensuring that data is consistent and up-to-date across different locations can be difficult and may require additional management tools. Specifically in the Postgres space, nuances between the different hyperscaler Postgres implementations can pose unanticipated challenges. Differences in supported versions of Postgres (or the speed with which new versions are supported) can cause inconsistency. More material challenges can arise when providers implement “Postgres compatible” offerings where functionality deviates from Postgres standards. It should be noted that “Postgres-Compatible” does not equal Postgres. “Compatible” solutions will always be at least a step behind, having to add new Postgres features with a delay.

For businesses considering hybrid or multi-cloud environments, partnering with a cloud application development company can help navigate these complexities, ensuring seamless integration, optimized costs, and consistent data management.

Conclusion

According to Accenture, 77% of executives view their technology architecture as critical to their organization’s overall success. Undeniably, cloud computing stands at the core of every future-focused IT architecture.

Hybrid cloud technology serves as a crucial gateway for transforming legacy on-premises assets while simultaneously accessing the innovative capabilities offered by public cloud service providers. This dual approach not only modernizes existing systems but also leverages the advanced features of cloud platforms, ensuring organizations remain competitive and agile in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.