For the past 15 years, companies have experimented with SaaS applications, taken advantage of the abundance of cheap computing and storage, and migrated workloads from desktops to the cloud. Still, they have yet to achieve digital transformation. In an event organized by NetEvents on multicol, the experts agreed that we are on the brink of a generational change in IT driven by the need of companies.
The revolution will finally see the traditional data center model retreat as software is replaced by highly distributed, high-performance, cloud-native applications. But the biggest challenge in the battle for the future remains the complexity of building networks suitable for the cloud age. According to the panel of experts, “true digital transformation cannot occur without an infrastructure capable of supporting distributed development and IT operations, and capable of providing companies with full visibility and control of their environments.”
Experts of research, data center, and multi-cloud networks, IDC defines multi-cloud networks as the infrastructure supporting distributed business workloads. “We all know that we have entered, as a result of digital transformation, an era of the cloud in which more and more companies are leveraging the cloud for agility, for flexibility, for perceived cost savings. And more and more. As a result of the pandemic, they are also leveraging the cloud for resilience and business continuity, “he explained.
With organizations running more and more workloads in the cloud, refactoring existing applications, and building new cloud-native distributed applications, the traditional data center was also being distributed, says Casemore, so multi-cloud is no longer an option for many companies but a necessity.
Towards greater complexity by choosing Multiple Clouds
Businesses rush into even greater complexity by choosing not just one but multiple clouds, although, as Mullaney pointed out, the trend to multi-cloud is more ad hoc than strategic. Enterprise teams chose different clouds to access a particular application or feature set, creating a default multi-cloud “nightmare” left to the infrastructure team.
Thus, Oliver Cantor of Verizon compared cloud networks to a “gigantic utility company” built by the IT industry. “We have moved from a supply market to a demanding market. We are being pulled forward, and not just by corporate customers, but by their customers.”
Visibility and Management control problems, the most difficult to solve in Multi-cloud Environments
Mullaney of Aviatrix argued that these requirements may discourage companies from relying on SaaS offerings, which he characterized as “black boxes.” The industry must offer the best of both worlds: maximum agility and total control.
Another important factor is that they need to be able to control the cost. This is a growing problem, as the cloud has made it easier for anyone to tap into computing resources.
Finally, Mullaney of Aviatrix agreed that to reduce complexity and enforce control, companies need a common set of services across all cloud platforms that provides a “single pane of glass for visibility across all these clouds. , as well as existing ones “.
