Traditional networking technology was built for another era – the era of client/server applications, in which an organisation controlled both the hosting of the applications and network connectivity. 

Today, applications can be hosted in the cloud – anywhere and on any platform. Network data flows can also cross many boundaries, such as those of cloud hosting providers, communications providers, and enterprise networks. Getting the connectivity right is one of the challenges to successful multi-cloud and hybrid-cloud operations.

Many companies are retaining some of their applications in their private cloud, either hosted at the provider's location or, in some instances, taking back some services from the public cloud by building private cloud on-premises (‘repatriation’).

Connectivity is critical when such enterprises operate applications in a hybrid model, a mix of private and public clouds.

Connectivity becomes even more critical as the data processing gets closer to the edge, and applications become more distributed over private and public clouds. Current trends around 5G and Edge devices inevitably bring the cloud closer to where data is processed, reinforcing the need for cloud-centric connectivity design, right from the outset.

Many companies today operate in a distributed world, so knowing the differences between multi-cloud and ‘multiple’ clouds is critical when designing connectivity:

• Multiple clouds refers to applications working in different cloud platforms, with limited data exchange between these two environments.
• Multi-cloud is where applications operate in a true hybrid model, continuously exchanging data between private and public clouds.

You’ll only realise the full benefits of moving to a cloud when your cloud strategy is built on distributed applications working in a true hybrid fashion – hence, multi-cloud and not multiple clouds.

With a multiple clouds approach, you are treating hyperscalers like Amazon, Azure, and Google Cloud as another data centre for you to host your applications. This is not modernisation or digital transformation. This is cloud transition or ‘lift and shift’.

Having an infrastructure which is secure, always-on, and connected from anywhere to any location is vital to maximising your cloud capabilities when operating in this manner. So, digital transformation at any scale will only be fully realised with the proper connectivity around you that is built for your distributed world.