Multicloud refers to an organization's utilization of cloud computing services from at least two providers to execute its applications. Multi Cloud environments often consist of two or more public clouds, two or more private clouds, or a hybrid of the two. You may reduce vendor lock-in by creating a plan that uses numerous providers and selecting the capabilities that best meet your individual company needs. 

Organizations are increasingly embracing multi cloud strategies and solutions to enable apps to function where they are needed without adding complexity. 

What is Multi-Cloud?

Multi-Cloud is a technique for leveraging numerous public cloud services, typically from various cloud providers. Several trends are encouraging companies to use various clouds, including putting apps on the public, private, or edge cloud that best meet an application's requirements, expediting app modernization, guaranteeing organizational sovereignty, and securing the distributed workforce.

Benefits of Multi-Cloud Services

Organizations get several benefits from adopting multi-cloud services to abstract essential services provided by cloud providers. This includes: 

• Reduced operational overhead by using the same toolset to manage apps and infrastructure across many clouds. This includes the provision of "skill portability" so that developers and operators may apply the same talents across numerous cloud platforms.
• Improved observability at all tiers, consistently across clouds, which can enhance application speed and security.
• Improved security posture using a Zero Trust architecture and safe software supply chains.
• Increased application portability options through uniform services and APIs.
• Choice of best-in-class cloud native services.

Multi-Cloud Challenges

In the multi-cloud age, IT companies must serve both existing and new application architectures and workloads on all major clouds, at the edge, in co-location facilities, in sovereign environments, and in their own data center. Each cloud provider, with its own operating system, services, and toolset, provides a distinct set of features that do not extend to other cloud platforms. This variability in cloud architecture and operating models puts a load on technology staff, decentralizes IT services, and adds complexity and risk to the environment.

Both IT and developers report various pain issues in the successful implementation of multi-cloud: 

1. Inconsistent infrastructure: Without a consistent multi-cloud architecture that covers all environments, cloud operational teams work in silos, with little ability to alter tactics quickly or easily in response to changing business demands.
2. A constantly evolving application landscape: To enable the speedier delivery of new applications or features that create digital business value, businesses must manage the increasing complexity of both existing and new application architectures, assuring DevSecOps, performance, and availability across numerous cloud environments.
3. Inefficient management: The absence of efficient and uniform multi-cloud infrastructure and administration solutions across many cloud environments considerably raises expenses while revealing severe security flaws.
4. Networking and security: Networking and protecting applications and data across clouds is challenging, resulting in security flaws, risk exposure, and an enlarged attack surface.
5. A scattered workforce: With more data and people outside the network, organizations struggle to provide choice, flexibility, and a simplified user experience while maintaining security.

Why use a multi cloud strategy?

With the ability to migrate your apps, you have direct control over pricing, uptime, latency, and downtime, all of which have a direct influence on your customers' experience. On the enterprise side, a multicloud approach prevents vendor lock-in and allows you to identify the cloud products and services that provide the greatest value.

If your firm is concerned about any of the following, you're probably a suitable candidate for a multicloud approach.

• Increased flexibility and avoiding vendor lock-in
• Ensure high availability to avoid website disruptions.
• Creating a robust data protection and risk mitigation plan 
• Providing optimal latency and load times for your customers 
• Acquiring competitive pricing among cloud providers
• Constant access to network performance enhancements. 
• Observing region-specific compliance regulations