ACSM
Multi-cloud networking - challenges and solutions By Guy Matthews, Editor of NetReporter
M
ulti-cloud networking really matters. It has evolved in short order to become a vital consideration for enterprises and organizations worldwide. In consequence, the likes of AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, as well as many other platforms, have seen tremendous growth rates on a year to year basis. “This is because these clouds have become so important for the realization of enterprise digital transformation,” believes Brad Casemore, VP Research, Datacenter and Multi-cloud Networking with analyst firm IDC. “These platforms are not only destinations for workloads but are central to the redefinition of operating models for IT organizations. And all this has had a tremendous effect on the network, because we have moved from hosting applications in on-premise data centers to a distributed landscape that includes cloud and increasingly, as we move forward, edge environments.” The network, he says, has had to be modernized to meet all these changes: “It needs to be able to bring a degree of simplicity without a compromise on performance and security. It needs to offer elastic scale, as well as many cloud attributes in terms of being API-based and more softwaredefined. And it needs to do this across a more distributed and complex landscape than we've ever seen before.” IDC conducted recent research into how certain types of application are affecting technology choices across the wide area network: “These are very important considerations for enterprise IT organizations and buyers,”
48 | Australian Cyber Security Magazine
notes Casemore. “Another aspect of this is applications access and the digital experience, the consumption side of things. You have to consider things like security, and latency, and applications performance. We're seeing a lot of work being done by SDN vendors to integrate with cloud transport networks. We're also seeing the way that cloudnative technology is changing the networking picture and making new demands on networks. IDC foresees an impressive multi-cloud adoption growth rate through to 2026: “I see tremendous prospects, and it all speaks to the problems that enterprises are trying to solve with effective technology,” concludes Casemore. To extend the dialogue, Casemore turns to a number of multi-cloud stakeholders, including Jim Brinksma, Chief Technology Officer with Megaport, a global network service provider with approximately 2,500 customers. He agrees that connectivity is key: “Without the right network connectivity, the overall cloud migration experience can really suffer,” he says. “Other obstacles include initial procedural efforts like creating your credentials plus the educational efforts that are associated with trying to understand the different naming conventions of the features and how they align. Then there’s understanding how network egress charges could impact your ability to distribute certain workloads. Networking is an enabler but there will always be little speed bumps that that you'll have to go over as you're getting your feet wet and learning how to get into the networking game in a multi-cloud
