How to ensure the interoperability and portability of data and applications in a multi-cloud world (Guest blog from BJSS)

Author: Daniel Amini, Head of Cloud, Data & AI Professional Services at BJSS

Cloud computing has revolutionised the way businesses operate, offering scalability, flexibility, cost-efficiency and innovation. However, not all cloud solutions are created equal and different industries have different needs when it comes to choosing the best cloud platform. 

That's why hybrid and multi-cloud solutions are becoming increasingly popular, as they allow businesses to leverage the benefits of cloud across different vendors and environments. Both solutions enable you to take advantage of the best features and benefits of each cloud platform, such as scalability, performance, security, and cost-efficiency. 

Deploying hybrid and multi-vendor cloud environments however poses the question, how do you best ensure the interoperability and portability of data and applications while remaining agile, secure and efficient? 

Leveraging Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Solutions as a Competitive Advantage 

For businesses to exploit the competitive advantage of hybrid and multi-cloud solutions, they need to look out for: 

• Technical challenges to switching between clouds are likely to be material for some customers and use-cases, and this can be exacerbated by high technical barriers to multi-cloud.   
• Difficulties in predicting future cloud spend can also prevent customers from exercising effective choice in selecting the cloud architecture that is most appropriate for their needs, thereby limiting competition in cloud infrastructure services.   
• Adopting effective cloud management and governance solutions. 
• Adopting effective cloud-native and open-source technologies. 
• Aligning their hybrid and multi-cloud strategy with their business goals and priorities. 
• Leveraging cloud consulting and professional service. 
• Managing the complexity and diversity of multiple cloud environments, platforms, and services. 
• Securing and governing the data and access across multiple cloud boundaries and networks. 
• Monitoring and optimising the performance and cost of multiple cloud resources and workloads. 

How to ensure the interoperability and portability of data and applications across different cloud environments 

Businesses need to be able to move and integrate their data and applications seamlessly and securely between different cloud services, without losing functionality, performance or quality. 

• Using common standards and protocols: Businesses can use common standards and protocols for data and application exchange, such as APIs, containers, microservices and serverless computing, to enable the compatibility and communication between different cloud services. These technologies can also help businesses to reduce the dependency and complexity of their cloud applications, making them more modular, scalable and portable. 
• Using cloud-native and open-source technologies: Businesses can use cloud-native and open-source technologies, such as Kubernetes, Docker, Istio and Knative, to build and deploy their cloud applications in a consistent and portable way across different cloud environments. These technologies can also help businesses to automate and orchestrate their cloud operations, as well as leverage the native capabilities and features of each cloud service. 
• Using cloud management and orchestration tools: Businesses can use cloud management and orchestration tools, such as Terraform, Ansible, CloudFormation and Helm, to manage and coordinate their hybrid and multi-cloud infrastructure, resources and applications. These tools can also help businesses to automate and optimise their cloud provisioning, configuration, deployment and scaling, as well as enforce their security and compliance policies and practices across different cloud environments. 
• Using a cloud-agnostic or tech-agnostic approach to design and develop applications that can run on any cloud platform or environment. 
• Implementing a cloud management platform or tool that can provide a unified view and control of all your cloud resources and services. 
• Applying a cloud-native or cloud-ready architecture that can enable the scalability, resilience, and portability of your applications across different cloud platforms. 
• Adopting a cloud governance framework that can define and enforce the policies, standards, and processes for your cloud usage and security. 
• Exploiting the competitive advantage: Businesses can leverage the best of both worlds from different cloud providers and environments. 

The Strategic Interplay of AWS, Azure and Google Cloud Platform in Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Solutions 

The synergy between AWS, Azure, and GCP can be harnessed to create a robust, flexible, and highly efficient cloud ecosystem. Each platform offers its distinct set of strengths, which, when combined, can deliver unparalleled benefits across different industries. 

• AWS, renowned for its extensive range of services and global infrastructure, excels in offering scalability, reliability, and a broad spectrum of tools for computing, storage, and database management.  
   
• Azure, meanwhile, provides deep integration with Microsoft's software ecosystem, including Microsoft 365, Open AI, Active Directory, and SQL Server, making it the ideal choice for organisations deeply rooted in Microsoft technologies.  
   
• GCP is celebrated for its leading-edge data analytics and machine learning services, offering tools like BigQuery and TensorFlow, which are invaluable for businesses focused on AI-driven innovation.  

Multi-Cloud Security Solutions for Enhanced Protection and Compliance 

With 21% of cloud security incidents worldwide being targeted attacks on cloud infrastructure, multi-cloud security is now essential for protecting your data and applications from cyber-attacks across multiple cloud providers. 

BJSS, a leading technology solutions provider, has successfully delivered over 400 cloud contracts, including solutions across AWS, Azure, and GCP. BJSS has experience in delivering transformation solutions that leverage the strengths of both these platforms, such as the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency's Technical Support Service platform, which utilised both AWS and Azure services for efficient data sharing and system management.  

We believe that any solution should benefit from taking the most appropriate services from any given Cloud, treating them less as a monolith, and more like an Independent Software Vendor. This approach can enable innovation, cost savings and a broader skillset. With the necessary guardrails, automation and cross-Cloud reporting advances can be made. 

BJSS's experience includes the delivery of the UKHSA's Halo platform, which onboarded more than 18,000 users and over 100 applications, leveraging the multi-cloud environment of AWS, Azure and GCP and on-premise. BJSS, with its multi-cloud expertise, can design and deliver solutions that make the best use of Azure and GCP's complementary strengths. 

Benefits of BJSS’ Multi-Cloud Security Solution: 

• Full multi-cloud security assessment, review, support. 
• Solution implementation with ongoing management. 
• Continue testing and assessing your multi-cloud security to defend against evolving threats. 
• Controlled access to critical apps and resources. 
• Modernisation of security posture and practices to ensure you have the best Cloud Security Posture (CSP). 
• Meet industry, security, compliance, risk, and data protection requirements. 
• Compliant configuration of resources across Microsoft, AWS, and GCP. 
• Secure scalability of your cloud infrastructure. 

How Can Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Solutions Enable the Benefits of Cloud Across Different Industries? 

The adoption of a multi-cloud strategy presents benefits such as access to preferred services, gaining commercial bargaining power against cloud providers, and building for resilience. However, few customers are able to fully realise these benefits due to significant barriers to switching and multi-cloud.   

• Charging of egress fees by some cloud providers. These fees apply when data is transferred out of their cloud, including to a rival provider's cloud. These fees can discourage customers from switching or using multiple cloud providers.   
• Technical barriers also limit the ability of customers to combine products from different providers or switch their main provider. The complexity involved in reconfiguring data and applications to work on different clouds makes it difficult for customers to adopt a more integrated multi-cloud strategy or to change primary providers.   
• Optimising performance and efficiency: Hybrid and multi-cloud solutions enable businesses to use the most suitable cloud service for each of their workloads, ensuring optimal performance, availability and resource utilisation.  
• Enhancing innovation and agility: Hybrid and multi-cloud solutions allow businesses to access the latest technologies and features from different cloud providers, enabling them to innovate faster and adapt to changing market demands and customer expectations.  
• Improving security and compliance: Hybrid and multi-cloud solutions enable businesses to comply with different regulatory and industry standards, as well as their own security policies and preferences.  
• Improving customer experience and engagement by delivering faster, more reliable, and more personalised services. 
• Enhancing innovation and agility by enabling faster development, testing, and deployment of new products and features. 
• Optimising operational efficiency and cost-effectiveness by reducing infrastructure complexity, avoiding vendor lock-in, and leveraging the best price-performance ratio for each workload. 
• Increasing security and compliance by meeting the regulatory and data sovereignty requirements of different regions and markets. 

How to Get Started with Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Solutions 

If you are considering a migration to cloud or a multi-cloud strategy, here are some steps you can take to get started: 

• Assess your current and future business needs and goals, and identify the cloud platforms and services that can best meet them. 
• Plan your cloud migration or integration strategy, and determine the scope, timeline, and budget of your project. 
• Choose a trusted and experienced cloud partner or provider that can help you design, implement, and manage your hybrid and multi-cloud solutions. 
• Train and upskill your staff on the cloud skills and tools they need to operate and maintain your cloud environments and applications. 
• Monitor and evaluate your cloud performance and cost and optimise your cloud resources and workloads accordingly. 

The strategic adoption of hybrid and multi-cloud solutions signifies a paradigm shift in how industries utilise technology to drive growth, efficiency, and innovation. 

By leveraging the complementary strengths of AWS, Azure, and GCP, businesses can create a customised, resilient, and scalable cloud infrastructure that not only meets their current needs but also positions them for future success in the digital landscape.  

As cloud technologies continue to evolve, the potential for their application across different sectors appears limitless, promising a future where technological capacity is only bounded by imagination 

BJSS' dedicated Multi-Cloud Security Team has the knowledge, understanding, and skill sets to maintain and secure all cloud platforms, putting us in the best position to protect your multi-cloud environments. 

  Ready for your cloud transformation? Check out how to overcome ten cloud transformation hurdles and thrive: https://www.bjss.com/overcome-10-cloud-transformation-hurdles