Ninety-four percent of organizations are now using multiple public clouds, according to a recent survey by TechTarget’s Enterprise Strategy Group.[1] While many companies started out years ago using a single cloud provider, over time they added more clouds to take advantage of the strengths of each cloud and the best solutions for their business needs. Thus, many organizations, without intending to, have found themselves in a multicloud environment. Integrating cloud solutions that were introduced ad hoc can be quite a challenge.
Multicloud networking—that is, networking between different cloud environments to facilitate the transfer of data—has become a necessity driven by the needs of applications in multicloud architectures. But since many companies didn’t plan for it, they don’t have a strategy in place and aren’t routing traffic between clouds as efficiently as they could.
To succeed in a multicloud world, you need more than just the right cloud and networking technology. You need a clear strategy for using it effectively.
Why your multicloud networking strategy matters
To deliver the best application performance and optimal customer experiences, you need to route traffic between clouds as quickly and efficiently as possible. Every cloud has its built-in connectivity tools, but if you’re accessing several public clouds, using cloud-native networking capabilities could strain your IT staff, not to mention duplicate efforts. And if you add new cloud and SaaS providers in the future, you’ll need to ensure that adding those capabilities doesn’t break your current networking.
Each cloud also has its own best practices for security, which may or may not support your requirements for secure data transfer. It’s easy to duplicate security efforts unnecessarily or follow inconsistent standards when using cloud-native capabilities.
For these reasons, if you didn’t have a multicloud networking plan before, now’s the time to build a multicloud networking strategy that enables you to reduce networking complexity and provide the best performance for your applications. Doing so helps improve the predictability and performance of your network, simplify network architecture and reduce costs by removing duplicated efforts across multiple clouds. And ultimately, it helps future-proof your business in a multicloud world.
7 considerations for your multicloud networking strategy
As you design a multicloud networking strategy, there are several important factors to consider:
1. Build in flexibility and agility
If the last several years have taught us anything, it’s that businesses need to be prepared for the unknown, whether that involves new trends, changes in business strategy, market changes or additional technologies you need to integrate for your business. Your approach to multicloud networking shouldn’t be a limiting factor in supporting organizational goals and priorities. So, make sure you are intentional about your approach to multicloud networking and that you build in the flexibility and agility required to adapt as new requirements or disruptions arise in the future.
2. Consider your management options
Your multicloud networking strategy should also align with your management priorities. Do you want to manage it yourself or use third-party management to free up your networking staff to focus on other strategic priorities? Whatever the case, make sure you plan accordingly.
3. Find a fitting commercial model
There are different options to consider when it comes to pricing models for multicloud networking solutions. Some organizations prefer highly predictable costs, which can help offset some of the unpredictability of other costs with public cloud. Others want to pay for only what they use and are drawn to flexible cloud networking models that can support dynamic environments. For the former, there are options that include flat fees, removing the guesswork from operational costs. For the latter, consumption-based pricing is more appealing. And many companies need both commercial models, to varying degrees, so it can be worthwhile to look for a platform that offers a variety of cost options for multicloud networking.
4. Include public and private connectivity options
Cloud providers usually intend their tools to be used over the public internet, but for security, regulatory and business reasons, not every company wants to transfer data over the internet. A private network may be preferred to reduce risk and provide more predictable performance. So, as you create your multicloud networking strategy, be sure to encompass both public and private networking options.
5. Take a hybrid infrastructure approach
In the Flexera State of the Cloud Report 2024, 73% of organizations are using hybrid cloud[2]—in other words, combining multiple public clouds with private cloud to leverage the strengths of each environment. In fact, many companies that hurried to cloud have now repatriated workloads. A hybrid multicloud strategy allows you to take advantage of public clouds and private infrastructure, using the latter when you need more control over compute resources and data for regulatory compliance and privacy reasons and the more consistent performance of dedicated single-tenant systems. With more companies using a hybrid infrastructure model, your multicloud networking strategy also needs to incorporate private environments as well as resources in the public cloud.
6. Prioritize integration with existing tools and systems
When planning for multicloud networking, you need to take your existing requirements into consideration while planning for the future. Balance integration with being careful not to get locked in with a single vendor. Adopt vendor-agnostic automation tools like Terraform to optimize your operations and give yourself flexibility in solving future multicloud networking needs.
7. Be prepared for future global expansion
For global enterprises, it’s also important to think not only about your current business locations but potential future expansion. When you choose multicloud networking infrastructure, you’ll want to make sure you can easily replicate proven deployments in other parts of the world, close to your users, data and applications. Only work with providers that have extensive geographic reach.
A future-proof multicloud networking strategy
Multicloud architectures have become ubiquitous, and preparing for your digital future means having a multicloud networking strategy in place to ensure efficient data transfer across your IT infrastructure. Multicloud networking is an important foundation that supports the performance of your current applications as well as any future applications you deploy.
If you’re looking for a strategic partner in your multicloud journey, we have a range of multicloud networking solutions on Platform Equinix® to support routing between multiple public clouds as well as between public and private clouds. Our platform is home to thousands of cloud, network and IT service providers, making Equinix a point of convergence for private networks, public internet and public cloud. Our multicloud networking solutions include physical and virtual networking infrastructure and can leverage both public and private connectivity. Our networking services also provide predictable pricing and advanced management tools through online portals, APIs and more—so you have control over your network. And you’ll have the flexibility to scale into the locations where you need to be. For multicloud routing, Equinix Fabric Cloud Router offers easy deployment and automation capabilities.
Ready to get started on your multicloud networking strategy? Explore further by downloading our multicloud networking guide, 7 Key Questions to Ask when Architecting a Multicloud Network.
[1] Enterprise Strategy Group Research Report, Distributed Cloud Series: The Mainstreaming of Cloud-native Apps and Methodology, July 2023.
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