Hybrid and multicloud solutions

Hybrid cloud computing refers to a computing environment that combines public cloud and on-premises infrastructure, including private cloud, by allowing data and applications to be shared between them. It gives you more deployment options and greater flexibility to scale computing resources and take advantage of cloud innovation, while offering interoperability with your on-premises environment. It’s evolving to include multicloud environments and edge infrastructure.

Organizations choose a hybrid cloud approach for many reasons, such as meeting regulatory and data sovereignty requirements, maximizing on-premises technology investments, addressing low latency and edge workloads, and strengthening resilience and business continuity.

Multicloud computing refers to the use of multiple cloud computing services from more than one cloud provider—including private and public clouds—in a heterogeneous environment. A multicloud strategy provides greater flexibility and mitigates risk. Choose services from different cloud providers best suited for a specific task, or take advantage of services offered by a particular cloud provider in a specific location.

Multicloud computing requires understanding different clouds, which can be challenging. A multicloud approach also adds operational complexity. Therefore, it’s important to choose a cloud platform such as Azure that embraces a multicloud approach and offers product capabilities that help significantly simplify multicloud management.

Edge computing refers to bringing the computing power of the cloud to Internet of Things (IoT) devices, close to where the data resides, to reduce latency and gain real-time insights. The proliferation of smart sensors and connected devices, combined with advanced cloud technologies such as machine learning and AI, makes edge computing a reality.

Run virtual machines, containers, and data services at edge locations using edge computing. By moving certain workloads to the edge of the network, devices spend less time communicating with the cloud, react more quickly to local changes, operate reliably even in extended offline periods, and deliver an immersive user experience through highly responsive and contextually aware apps. Read more about innovating from cloud to edge.

A successful hybrid and multicloud architecture provides a unified way to manage, secure, and govern IT resources across on-premises, multicloud, and edge environments. Running hybrid and multicloud in a durable way also means enabling consistent database choices and architectures across environments so you can easily move application data where you need it and manage it holistically.