Cloud adoption is increasing at a rapid rate, with the vast majority of enterprises focusing on a hybrid, multi-cloud approach. A 2022 survey revealed that 89% of organizations have a multi-cloud strategy, and 80% have taken a hybrid approach.
And though hybrid environments offer scalability, flexibility, and greater control over data, they also require thoughtfully planned migration and security strategies. In this article, we’ll discuss the best practices for cloud migration, adopting a multi-vendor approach, and developing an interoperability and security strategy.
Hybrid Cloud Migration Strategy
As you plan your cloud migration strategy, it’s essential to consider your budget and the stakeholders involved to migrate the system effectively. There are many migration strategies to choose from, and the right option for your business depends on a variety of factors.
Here are six common cloud migration strategies, along with their pros and cons:
- Rehost/Relocate/Lift and Shift: The transfer of data from on-premise to cloud structure. This option offers easier compliance and security management and doesn’t require code changes, but legacy systems may face compatibility issues.
- Replatform: A modified version of rehosting, which allows for configurational changes of the app. It’s cost-effective, but requires automation and complicated customization.
- Refactor/Re-architect: Building a product from scratch. This makes it easy to adapt to changing requirements and provides increased resilience, but it’s complicated and has a high risk of failure.
- Repurchase: Replacing on-premise applications with cloud-native software. It’s simple and fast, but it doesn’t work for many legacy systems and offers less control.
- Retire: Applications are retired and eliminated, reducing IT spending and freeing up space on servers. This option requires deep technical expertise and presents the risk of losing valuable data.
- Retain: Visiting digital assets to decide which applications need refactoring before moving to the cloud. There’s no migration cost involved and it’s minimally disruptive, but there’s no room for technical improvement, and it could cause problems with interoperability.
What to Consider with a Multi-Vendor Service Approach
A growing number of enterprises are switching from a single-vendor service approach to a multi-vendor service approach. The global market for multi-vendor support services was valued at $55711.38 million in 2021 and is predicted to increase at a CAGR of 3.87% by 2027. The trend gives organizations access to a higher level of expertise, speeds the time to market, and ensures the highest quality at an optimized price.
However, the approach does come with its risks, including a lack of ownership/accountability, reduced security, and an increased need for a strong program management office (PMO). A hybrid multi-cloud approach takes the advantages of single-vendor service and traditional on-premise services while marrying them with the benefits of a cloud approach.
With this option, enterprises gain access to the latest technologies, but they also have the chance to modernize at their own pace. They gain increased ROI, have more flexibility, and improve the reliability and resilience of their organizations.
What to Look for in a Vendor
Still, it’s important to take caution when selecting vendors using the hybrid multi-cloud approach. To ensure the best fit, be sure to consider:
- Cost benefits
- Licenses, certifications, and standards
- Technologies and service roadmap
- Contracts and SLAs
- Data security and governance
- Partnerships and performance
- Reliability and performance
- Migration support
- Business health
- Company profile
- Compliance
- Project size and scope
- Service dependencies and partnerships
Developing an Interoperability and Security Strategy
An interoperability and security strategy is essential for helping to optimize any organization’s systems, and a growing number of enterprises are taking note. In fact, 39% of firms said they would prioritize collaboration and communication across business units to improve security in 2023.
The Risk of APIs
The need for a strong interoperability and security strategy continues to grow along with the widespread adoption of APIs. As of 2020, 90% of developers reported using APIs in some capacity. At the same time, 91% of organizations had at least one API security incident, and the majority of organizations say they’ve slowed the rollout of application production due to security issues.
The concerns are valid: API-based attacks are rising dramatically every year, with organizations experiencing a 681% increase in API attack traffic from 2020 to 2021. APIs present many inherent security challenges, such as:
- Broken level authorization
- Broken user authentication
- Data exposure
- Mass assignment
- Security misconfiguration
- Insufficient logging and monitoring
8 Security Strategies for a Hybrid Environment
Fortunately, the right security strategy can act as a strong defense for a hybrid environment. Here are eight best practices to ensure data security on-premise and in the cloud.
- Automate security measures: Process automation helps organizations leverage security, keep track of databases, and monitor threats in real time.
- Adopt high-level data encryption: Data encryption helps mitigate the risk of unauthorized access and unforeseen leaks. Ideally, every hybrid environment should adopt full-disk encryption, IPsec, and hardware encryption.
- Provide employee training: Employees should engage in ongoing security training to learn best practices for logging into technology, password management, etc.
- Ongoing data management: Datasets should be securely managed throughout the entire lifecycle—from the moment they’re imported into a system, including secure classification, compliance, and ongoing monitoring for threats.
- Keep data access under wraps: Multi-factor authentication is critical to ensure that only the relevant parties have access to data.
- Balance security controls across environments: On-premise security controls are just as important as cloud security controls, and vice versa.
- Run regular audits: Hybrid environments require regular, ongoing audits to ensure protection. For the highest level of security, rely on the latest methods and frameworks, including ISO 9001 and ISO 27001.
- Encrypt network sessions: Every network session should be encrypted, including Internet Protocol (IP).
Successful Cloud Adoption in Hybrid Environments
Operating in hybrid environments can be complex. As an increasing number of organizations move data between on-premise services, public cloud, and private cloud, it’s vital to consider migration strategies, interoperability, and data security measures. The right approach will allow enterprises to optimize the many benefits of a hybrid approach while also mitigating the risks.
Don’t wait to take control of your hybrid cloud migration strategy. Get in touch with Spinnaker Support today to learn how we can help you make software decisions based on your unique business initiatives, rather than your enterprise software provider’s roadmap.
