Over the last decade, multi-cloud environments have become increasingly popular amongst businesses. 

In a recent survey, it was discovered that 89% of companies now use a multi-cloud approach, with most utilising both public and private clouds to optimise their processes. 

This number is only set to grow over the next few years, especially with more cloud providers and innovative technology coming into play. 

Not only that, but the density of the average multi-cloud environment could expand, with more and more systems being integrated into the mix. But is this a good thing or a bad thing?

What are the Negatives?

To understand whether a denser multi-cloud environment is a stronger environment, it’s first important to understand what the benefits and negatives are. 

Firstly, a multi-cloud is not without its faults. Adopting a multi-cloud environment, by nature, makes your IT environment far more complex than it was before, and with multi-cloud environments getting denser year-on-year, this could lead to problems down the line. 

While this is obviously bad news for productivity and cost-efficiency – while multi-cloud systems are cost-effective by design, they could end up costing a customer more if they are not utilised properly – it is particularly worrying for data.

In 2024, more people than ever are aware of data privacy, and how much of their data is being taken. While some have taken it upon themselves to remove personal information from the internet, the ones that haven’t rely on businesses to make it safe. 

Due to the complexity issues mentioned earlier, it can actually be harder to maintain observability with data, especially without the correct IT security systems in place to protect it.

What are the Benefits?

That being said, if time is taken to properly implement multi-cloud systems, and train employees on how to use it, the environment can be very beneficial.

Firstly, multi-cloud is perfect for flexibility in the workplace, allowing you to optimise your workload when it comes to speed, reliability, performance, and accessibility. 

While complexity can muddy the waters, data protection is actually one of the main benefits. Using multi-cloud environments to store data that businesses own, it can work to keep their assets protected, ensuring that only authorised users can have access to sensitive information – information that is spread over multiple clouds and multiple cloud providers. 

As well as this, multi-cloud is cost-effective, ensures less downtime, and avoids vendor lock-in, allowing businesses to branch out with their innovative technology.

Are They Getting Denser?

The way the cloud landscape is going, it looks almost inevitable that multi-cloud systems will multiply in 2024 and beyond. This is why it’s so important to integrate an IT security infrastructure into a business, ensuring that observability is advanced and data remains as secure as possible. 

Spreading a company’s data over multiple systems is not a bad thing – the pros speak for themselves – but the ability to measure a system’s ongoing state cannot be sacrificed as a result, especially with cyber criminals evolving their tools and processes.

Not just from a cybersecurity standpoint, the reason a business would implement a multi-cloud environment is to optimise its processes as a whole. 

If the IT environment is allowed to get too dense and complex, this would only have the opposite effect, and this could become a sticky issue for businesses that don’t take the time to manage their implementation in 2024.