A new buzzword arrives: multi-cloud
Increased choice has resulted in enterprises procuring services from more than one provider, picking a different cloud for a different business need. According to the RightScale 2016 State of the Cloud report, 82 percent of businesses already procure cloud services from a range of sources.
As the name suggests, multi-cloud involves reducing reliance on just one vendor, which can lead to benefits such as cost reduction. Analysts at 451 Research claim that enterprises can cut direct cloud expenditure by up to 74 percent with a multi-cloud approach.
There are also advantages around risk mitigation, while diversification helps avoid a new generation of lock-in in the cloud.
Of course, there are challenges in managing more than cloud provider. Moving applications between providers is not a simple task either, particularly for legacy applications.
According to 451 Research, the reliance on multiple cloud vendors will open doors for systems integrators and cloud brokers to help businesses to find the right provider.