The case for multicloud: Lessons from the CrowdStrike outage

A July 18 software update from CrowdStrike caused a massive IT outage, leading to chaos across airports, banks, stock exchanges, hospitals, and more. This incident, marked by widespread occurrences of the “blue screen of death” (BSOD), highlighted the vulnerability of relying on a single cloud provider.

Most of us know someone affected by this outage, although systems are returning to normal as I write this article. Flights were canceled, banks could not make deposits, and patients could not get hospital treatment. That’s scary post-apocalypse stuff. This outage was not the result of a malicious act, but it proves we’re not ready to face a substantial cyberattack and the far-reaching damage it could cause.

The disruption of services worldwide showcased the significant risk of single-provider dependency and underscored the crucial need for enterprises to reconsider their cloud strategies. Namely, how can we make sure this doesn’t happen again? It’s the most common question I’m receiving right now, and it’s easy to answer: It’s time to move toward multicloud computing.

Benefits of a multicloud strategy

Let’s look at the top four reasons to consider multicloud.

Distributing workloads ensures that if one provider experiences a failure, the entire operation will not be affected. This distributed approach enhances business continuity and reduces downtime.

Vendor lock-in is a big risk of relying on a single cloud provider, making enterprises vulnerable to the provider’s changes in service, pricing, or capability. A multicloud strategy offers flexibility and negotiation power, allowing enterprises to adapt more readily to changing circumstances.

Different cloud providers offer unique strengths, and enterprises can optimize their overall performance by using each provider’s specific advantages, such as superior data analytics from one and advanced storage solutions from another. This best-of-breed aspect is the primary reason enterprises should leverage multicloud. You can’t build the best, most optimized solution with only a single provider.

Layered security measures across platforms minimize the risk of a single point of failure. This setup can also better contain threats by isolating compromised systems.

The risks and costs of multicloud

Many businesses adopt a multicloud approach without fully understanding the potential risks and costs. Now that we understand the key benefits of multicloud let’s explore some of its less appealing aspects.

Managing multiple cloud environments can be complex, requiring specialized knowledge and robust management tools. Integrating various platforms can lead to challenges in maintaining a cohesive IT environment. Monitoring, troubleshooting, and maintaining multiple environments requires more resources than a single cloud setup.

Each cloud provider has its own security protocols. Ensuring consistent security practices across multiple platforms takes time and effort to avoid gaps in security coverage.

Differences in cloud platforms can cause interoperability issues. Applications and data must flow seamlessly across providers, but varying standards and APIs can create barriers.

Different jurisdictions may have varying compliance requirements. Ensuring compliance across multiple providers can be challenging and time-consuming.

Handling relationships with multiple vendors requires more effort in contract management, communication, and service-level agreements (SLAs). This can strain resources and complicate negotiations. Managing multiple subscriptions and licenses can lead to higher overall expenses. Additionally, egress fees or other unexpected charges must be factored in when moving data between clouds.

The initial setup and integration may be expensive. To facilitate the transition, enterprises might need to invest in new tools, staff training, and consulting services.

Staff will need training to manage and use multiple cloud platforms effectively. Investing in skill development is costly but crucial for successfully deploying and maintaining a multicloud environment.

The implementation of multicloud

Multicloud isn’t a magical cure for all that could go wrong. It’s an architectural option with good and bad aspects. The recent outage or something like it will likely drive many enterprises to multicloud for the wrong reasons. We saw this during the pandemic when many new customers rushed to public cloud providers for the wrong reasons. Today, we’re still fixing the fallout from those impetuous decisions.

Enterprises should thoroughly assess their workloads and identify their critical applications before they implement a multicloud strategy. Selecting appropriate cloud providers based on their strengths and services is essential. You must manage multiclouds as a collection of integrated systems. Today, many enterprises view multicloud as a collection of silos. The silo approach will fail, either right away or eventually. Treating multicloud as a collection of systems will require more attention to detail, which translates into more upfront time and money to get the plan right the first time. It’s still the best route because doing it the second time is usually twice as expensive.

Integration tools can help seamlessly manage operations across platforms, and robust security protocols should be developed for all chosen cloud services. Lastly, regular testing and monitoring can ensure resilience and efficiency.

The CrowdStrike incident is a poignant reminder of the risks inherent in relying on a single provider. By transitioning to a multicloud strategy, most enterprises can build a more resilient, flexible, and secure IT environment, safeguarding against future disruptions. Just do your homework first.