Multi-cloud is mainstream. According to recent data, 89% of companies now use a multi-cloud approach for everything from day-to-day workloads to data storage, server backups and in-depth analytics.
While public clouds offer the advantage of on-demand resources and private clouds deliver enhanced control, combining public and private performance — or multiple instances of both — helps businesses maximize their cloud investment.
A multi-cloud approach can also benefit development and operations (DevOps) teams if they have the training and skills necessary to maximize multi-cloud potential.
Starting Strong: Three Tips for Building a Better DevOps Team
By completing development and operations tasks simultaneously, DevOps teams set the stage for faster deployments with fewer problems.
Below mentioned are three tips for starting strong.
Identify Tech Talent
DevOps functions differently than traditional IT teams. Instead of familiar ‘waterfall’ models that take a step-by-step approach to design, development, deployment and assessment, DevOps teams complete these tasks simultaneously.
As a result, it is critical to find staff with tech talents that facilitate this model or upskill existing staff to help enable DevOps. In practice, this means looking for staff who are capable of thinking outside the box by developing creative answers to common problems and those who are willing to experiment to see what works, rather than sticking with what they have always done.
Set Clear Expectations
Clear expectations are also critical. The purpose of DevOps is to streamline the deployment of new applications and services, but the collaborative and continuous nature of this approach makes it easy for teams to get off track, especially as the number of apps used by business teams grows exponentially.
To reduce the risk of projects started and not finished, companies must set clear goals, including key milestones and deliverable dates.
Create a Collaborative Culture
DevOps dies in isolation. Siloed services and challenges in communication frustrate teams’ ability to iterate and improve on deliverables. To ensure DevOps lives up to its potential, companies must prioritize open collaboration that prioritizes communication over being ‘correct’.
In many cases, this requires a more hands-off approach from managers and executives. While it is important to regularly check in with DevOps teams, the nature of this collaborative approach means they are better off experimenting and iterating.
Key Skills for Effective Multi-Cloud Management
Multi-cloud environments can enable DevOps efforts. For example, companies might keep critical data on-site or in private clouds to maximize security but use public cloud resources for large-scale application testing.
The caveat? Managing multi-cloud solutions is naturally more complex than handling their single-cloud counterparts. To ensure DevOps teams are prepared to maximize multi-cloud, training is essential.
The Challenge? Complexity
The Solution: Cloud Platform Specializations
While cloud platforms share core functionality, how users interact with and apply these functions differs significantly across providers. Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) all provide powerful, interoperable cloud platforms but these platforms are not identical, creating the potential for increased complexity.
For example, while AWS is known for its broad service offerings, Google Cloud has emerged as a leader in data processing and artificial intelligence (AI). Microsoft Azure, meanwhile, provides enhanced platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offerings and seamless integration with Windows and other Microsoft products.
To effectively leverage multiple clouds, platform specializations are critical. This makes Google Cloud, Azure and AWS training essential for DevOps teams.
The Challenge? Effective Integration
The Solution: Containerization Proficiency
For DevOps teams to see success, applications and services must work across multiple platforms with minimal need for adjustment. Containers make this possible; by keeping application code isolated from the larger cloud environment, apps and services become portable, allowing teams to quickly build, test and deploy new solutions across multiple clouds.
This creates the need for comprehensive container proficiency. Common containerization tools include Kubernetes (K8s), Docker, OpenShift and the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud. Experience and training with multiple container tools helps empower solution portability.
The Challenge? Limited Observability
The Solution: Monitoring Mastery
While multi-clouds increase functionality, they naturally decrease observability. This can lead to both performance and security issues, for example, applications may be secure in one cloud but exposed in another. In the best-case scenario, the issue is caught early and teams spend time fixing the problem. Worst-case? Attackers exploit the oversight to compromise company data, with teams unaware until performance issues emerge.
To improve observability and reduce risk, teams need training in real-time monitoring tools. Look for solutions that provide real-time data analysis, in-depth dashboards and customizable alerts to help identify small issues before they become big problems.
Making the Most of Multi-Cloud
Much like DevOps, multi-cloud approaches combine the best of both worlds to deliver improved outcomes.
Just like DevOps, the right strategy is key to making the most of multi-cloud. This starts with purpose-built teams given clear expectations and backed by a collaborative culture. It is enhanced by skills and training that help DevOps teams reduce complexity, improve integration and enhance observability across multiple cloud platforms.