One of the many challenges technology professionals face, is working out from the many expert predictions and forecasts, which of the latest industry declarations will move from marketing hype to reality. Public cloud is a case in point. Just a few short years ago everyone was talking with certainty that organisations would move entirely to the public cloud.
We were on the right lines, but we didn’t quite hit the nail on the head. Close, but no cigar folks. Aside from the high costs and lock-in often associated with pinning your technology flag to the mast of one of the cloud giants, in my experience business and technology professionals alike are increasingly looking for IT options that better align with their corporate strategies – whether that’s placing data and applications closer to users, improving performance, or innovating faster.
This is why a hybrid, multi-cloud approach is fast becoming the strategy of choice – not the sole public cloud provider route that many were predicting. When you think about the reasons why, it makes sense. With the benefit of hindsight and technology innovation, we now know that certain public clouds are best suited to certain functionalities. It makes sense therefore, that a multi-cloud architecture will empower businesses to choose a mix of the best cloud products and services to match their business needs.
To emphasise the point F5’s State of Application Strategy (SOAS) report found that nearly 90% of organisations are operating in hybrid deployments models, with 38% operating apps deployed in six different models. The findings from this report show that small and large organisations alike are now choosing to run their apps and APIs across multiple cloud platforms.
A simple example of multi-cloud use is a company using AWS for its core computing and storage needs, while simultaneously using Google Cloud for its machine learning and AI workloads, and Azure for integration with Microsoft Office 365.
A more complex example might involve a global logistics company using multiple cloud providers (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) for various workloads like data storage, analytics, and application hosting, to ensure redundancy, optimise costs, and leverage specialised services, while maintaining consistent security and compliance across all environments.
There is no one-size fits all, that’s the beauty of the approach. However, this is where ying and yang come into play. For every upside, there’s a potential downer. The more complex the multi-cloud infrastructure is, the more challenges it brings in terms of the network that’s capable of spanning diverse infrastructure requirements as well as security, visibility, and automation issues.
Taming the Complexities of a Multi-Cloud Architecture
Enter stage left – distributed cloud computing. Put simply, it’s the distribution of public cloud services (the hybrid, multi-cloud approach) but the fundamental difference is that the operation, governance, updates, and evolution of the services delivered are managed centrally. Spreading cloud services across multiple locations, yet maintaining a centralised control, is the perfect mix of the old-school cloud and modern computing.
If you need convincing, take a look at this recent report from Dell’Oro Group which predicts that distributed cloud networking will grow from a value of $4 billion to $17 billion in 2028, driven in part by companies’ continued transition to hybrid cloud.
Why is distributed cloud computing important?
For businesses specialising in data in motion including edge devices like sensors, IoT-focused applications for connecting customers, distributed cloud computing is the way of the future.
Because the operation, governance, and performance in the distributed cloud computing scenario are centralised, it has a competitive edge over traditional cloud models through greater flexibility, improved performance, enhanced security, and better compliance with local regulations:
- Improved scalability – distributed cloud computing allows organisations to expand or reduce resources as needed, to support growth or adapt to changing demands
- Improved performance and reduced latency – a distributed cloud model means a closer proximity to end users, resulting in significantly reduced latency and enhanced performance
- Better security and compliance – having defined geographic regions allows this model to bolster data security and compliance by helping businesses meet local regulations
- More flexible commercial options – opting for an ‘as a service’ strategy moves your business from a CapEx to an OpEx operating model. Not only does this deliver a more predictable and consistent spend pattern, it’s a modular offering – meaning you only buy what you need, when you need it.
An award-winning solution hiding in plain sight
For many, F5 is still known as the powerhouse of load balancing and application delivery controllers. Its Big-IP load balancer was the company’s first ever product nearly 30 years ago. Big-IP is still a significant offering, but it’s now complemented by F5 Distributed Cloud Services.
In the spirit of transparency, F5 is a key partner of BlueFort Security, so we’re clearly invested – but its distributed cloud offering, launched in 2022, is pretty awesome. Addressing high-performance application traffic management and the best of breed app and API security solutions and platform, F5’s Distributed Cloud Services is ideal for the 90% of enterprises that deploy apps and APIs across multiple environments.
Would my business benefit from a distributed cloud strategy?
This is a question I’m increasingly asked, and the answer is yes and no. Like everything, it very much depends on an organisation’s individual requirements. If your workload is light and can easily be handled by a single machine, distributing it introduces unnecessary complexity and overhead. Or you process sensitive data that’s not allowed to leave a single machine or physical location. Distribution across multiple machines or data centres could mean your organisation falls outside of the required compliance. Or it might be that your team lacks the expertise and experience needed to build and maintain a distributed system.
Curious to know more?
One of the consistent pieces of feedback I get from clients and prospects is how much they appreciate our ‘no hard sell’ consultative approach. We’re known for putting technology first, and sales second.
At the outset of every engagement – whether that’s a no-obligation workshop, or a paid-for engagement, our team invests time to ensure we have a deep understanding of a client’s IT infrastructure, as well as its overarching business objectives.
There’s no doubt that distributed cloud computing is revolutionising the way organisations manage their IT infrastructure. As businesses navigate the complexities of digital transformation, embracing distributed cloud computing will be key to achieving scalability, security, low latency, and personalised user experiences.
If you’d like to know more about the benefits of distributed cloud computing as it relates to your unique business requirements, please get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.
