David Kelleher
Jun 26, 2025
David Kelleher
Jun 26, 2025
“The future of cloud computing is no longer about choosing a single provider – it’s about strategically leveraging multiple providers to achieve business objectives.” There has been a shift in thinking over the last few years from Which cloud should we use? to How can we maximise the potential of multiple clouds? SEAN COHEN, Chief Customer Delivery & Support Services Officer at BMIT discusses the use of Multicloud and hybrid cloud models.
Q. How would you define a multi-cloud strategy?
Think of a multi-cloud strategy like a diversified investment portfolio. The same principle applies to cloud strategy. It involves risk mitigation but also leveraging each provider's unique strengths.
There are many permutations and scenarios but consider the following: You might use Google Cloud's AI and machine learning capabilities for data analytics, AWS's extensive global infrastructure for your customer-facing applications, and Microsoft Azure for your enterprise applications that integrate seamlessly with your existing Microsoft environment. You could even add a Private Cloud hosting critical and sensitive data.
This isn't hypothetical; many organisations, including BMIT customers, have adopted a similar approach because it works well for their diverse needs and multi-site operations.
Q. We hear a lot of about the benefits... but what should compel a company to go for this approach?
Hybrid and multi-cloud environments offer compelling advantages. Their flexibility and scalability allow businesses to seamlessly expand operations by leveraging a combination of on-premises, public cloud resources and private cloud instances. This dynamic approach allows an organisation to scale to meet demand without the burden of overcommitting to infrastructure.
Cost efficiency is another significant benefit. By utilising public cloud services for less sensitive data and workloads, organisations can substantially reduce expenses while maintaining complete control over critical information stored on-premises or in a private cloud.
Enhanced security is also a key advantage, as sensitive data can remain within private cloud systems or on-premises environments, enabling organisations to adhere to regulatory requirements and safeguard their operations.
They also help avoid vendor lock-in. By strategically working with multiple cloud providers, businesses are not dependent on a single vendor, allowing them to choose the best services and tools to meet specific needs. You have greater freedom and improved performance. Workloads can be distributed across different environments, therefore optimising resources and reducing latency. User experience also improves.
Finally, there is a positive impact on organisational resilience. With multiple providers, you minimise the risk of downtime resulting from provider-specific issues, ensuring uninterrupted operations and greater peace of mind.
Q. There are also challenges and pitfalls if you are not careful. It's not the perfect answer to all tech problems?
Managing this model can be complex, requiring businesses to integrate and maintain resources across different environments, multiple links and so on. For these deployments to be successful, you need to have strong governance structures to ensure smooth operations and oversight.
Latency issues can also arise when data is transferred between on-premises and cloud environments, potentially impacting application performance and user experience.
While, overall cost optimisation is achievable, some capital expense may be required at the beginning. Nothing comes for free!
The complexity doesn't end there. Managing multiple environments often requires specialised tools and skilled personnel, which can be difficult for organisations lacking in-house expertise. This complexity can lead to increased management costs, as maintaining such an environment demands ongoing operational resources and investment.
Finally, security presents a significant challenge. Ensuring consistent security policies across various cloud providers is no small task, and the potential for inconsistencies can increase the risk of security breaches. For organisations with stringent compliance and security requirements, this is an area that calls for careful attention.
Q. Where do you begin?
If you're considering a multi-cloud strategy – or if you're already using multiple clouds but want to optimise your approach – start by assessing your current situation. What are your critical workloads? Where are your users located? What are your compliance requirements?
I always recommend starting from your business objectives, not the technology. For some organisations, based on their workloads and processes, a multi-cloud environment suits their business needs and objectives. For others, a single Cloud instance makes more sense.
The next step is to identify how you want your workloads to be managed. For example, some compute-intense processes would work better with a specific provider, a critical financial application might run on a private cloud infrastructure at BMIT, while your development and testing environments live on public clouds.
Q. What is the key to a successful implementation?
I think it’s very important that the goal isn't to use multiple clouds just for the sake of it – it's about creating an infrastructure that gives your business the agility, resilience, and performance it needs to be successful.
This calls for good planning, a clear vision and understanding of what it means to run a business across multiple clouds and multiple locations. Adopting a hybrid or Multicloud model is feasible with the right tools and the right advice.
BMIT has been helping clients with their hybrid and Multicloud models for many years, offering both private cloud options as well as connectivity to all the major Cloud Service Providers. We’re here to help any business exploring these options.
