Many companies are turning to multicloud solutions for their network infrastructure, but depending on the internet for network performance presents a challenge most businesses aren’t equipped to deal with.
Gone are the days when cloud computing was unfamiliar and unprecedented. Companies not only rely on the cloud, but are quickly finding that they need multiple cloud environments to address their numerous network demands.
It’s becoming increasingly common for organizations to rely on more than one public cloud or a combination of public and private clouds for their enterprise networking needs, and unsurprisingly, more clouds mean more challenges for IT and cybersecurity professionals. But the clouds themselves are rarely the most difficult component of maintaining network security and functionality in a multicloud solution — rather, it’s the system’s inherent dependence on factors outside of the enterprise’s direct control that presents a substantial challenge.
But while we may not be able to control for everything that affects connectivity, it’s actually possible for enterprises to ensure that internet performance doesn’t threaten their multicloud solution. Proactive planning and experienced IT partners can keep a multicloud network in peak condition.
Why Moving to the Cloud Means Leaving MPLS Behind
Achieving high performance in a complex environment like that of a multicloud system requires a professional understanding of all of the underlying technology, including on-premises systems, public cloud and data services, software, security components, and all connected devices. Understandably, that can be a difficult balancing act, especially when dealing with components that the enterprise can’t control as directly.
This represents a big departure from the networks of years past — historically, private wide-area networking technologies like Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) allowed enterprises to control their networks, even outside of the corporate perimeter. However, because public clouds’ low start-up costs, scalability, and high bandwidth have made them an increasingly attractive solution, many companies are leaving MPLS behind. Of course, abandoning MPLS means leaving behind the high level of control that it offers, so enterprises are forced to develop new means of keeping their networks healthy and secure.
Cloud Management Requires SD-WAN Technology
One such network solution is the software-defined wide-area network (SD-WAN), which can address many of the issues that tend to arise with multicloud systems. According to Bikash Koley, Chief Technology Officer at Juniper Networks, “For IT to be successful in becoming multicloud-ready, it is critical organizations consider not only the data center and public cloud, but also the on-ramps of their campus and branch networks.” SD-WAN technology is rapidly becoming capable of addressing both connections between between data centers and remote office locations, as well as connections between clouds or regions within the cloud.
All of these connections are critical to the overall performance of an application that relies on distributed components; in fact, normal latency between Amazon Web Services (AWS) regions can be over a third of a second. That latency may seem minuscule, but it can add up to enough network lag to cause slowdowns that reach the consumer — and risk your company’s relationship with them. To put that in further perspective, public cloud services like AWS tend to leverage private network links between their own regions for connectivity, meaning that they have a relatively high level of control over their latency numbers.
Companies using multicloud solutions leverage the internet to make connections between clouds, but they still need to be able to control their network performance.
Managing the Unmanageable
Depending on the internet for internal cloud connectivity can be a scary prospect for many enterprises. Because the internet is outside of network control, when a problem arises, your organization will have blind spots that can make it near-impossible to determine the cause. Meanwhile, your customer experience hangs in the balance: today’s digitally-savvy customers have a low tolerance for lag times or technical difficulties. Most companies can’t afford to risk their place in the competitive marketplace, which means they must find a way to manage every element of their network, including the internet.
Managing the unmanageable means making visibility a mission-critical priority, which in turn means aiming for internet-aware network visibility. Of course, keeping track of every single component of a complex multicloud environment presents a great challenge for many organizations. For a massive job like this, the best solution for your company may be outsourcing to a partner like Turn-key Technologies (TTI).
With decades of experience in cybersecurity and network solutions, TTI is the best partner you could ask for in maintaining all of the many moving parts that make up your multicloud network solution. If you have yet to implement a multicloud system, but feel that it could be right for your business, TTI also has the expertise to get your network up and running.