What is multicloud?

Multicloud is the practice of using two or more cloud computing services from different providers-like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), or others-at the same time to run applications, store data, and deliver services.

Let's break it down

  • Cloud provider: A company that offers computing resources (servers, storage, databases) over the internet.
  • Single‑cloud: All your workloads run on just one provider.
  • Multicloud: You spread your workloads across several providers.
  • Why: Each provider has strengths (price, performance, specific tools) and you can pick the best one for each job.

Why does it matter?

  • Avoid vendor lock‑in: You’re not stuck with one provider’s pricing or features.
  • Best‑of‑breed services: Use the most suitable tool for each task (e.g., AI services from Google, analytics from Azure).
  • Resilience: If one provider has an outage, your other clouds can keep critical apps running.
  • Geographic flexibility: Choose regions that are closest to your users for lower latency.

Where is it used?

  • Enterprises that run large, global applications and need high availability.
  • Startups that want to keep costs low by mixing free tiers from different clouds.
  • Media & entertainment for rendering workloads that can be split across multiple clouds.
  • Healthcare to meet regional data‑privacy regulations by storing data in specific clouds.
  • Software‑as‑a‑Service (SaaS) providers that deliver their product from several clouds to reach more customers.

Good things about it

  • Flexibility to choose the right tool for each job.
  • Increased reliability and disaster‑recovery options.
  • Potential cost savings by leveraging each provider’s pricing model.
  • Ability to comply with local data‑sovereignty laws.
  • Competitive leverage: you can negotiate better terms with providers because you’re not dependent on one.

Not-so-good things

  • Complexity: Managing multiple clouds requires more expertise, tools, and coordination.
  • Higher operational overhead: Monitoring, security, and billing become more fragmented.
  • Data transfer costs: Moving data between clouds can be expensive and slower.
  • Skill gaps: Teams need to know the APIs and best practices of each provider.
  • Potential for inconsistent security: Different clouds have different security models, making unified policies harder to enforce.