Hybrid and multi-cloud adoption is accelerating these days, as organisations seek flexible, secure, and resilient infrastructures. By 2028, cloud modernisation will see 70% of Australian and global workloads in cloud environments.
This growth reflects a strong focus on maintaining agility while diversifying cloud providers to mitigate vendor lock-in and enhance data independence. Microsoft Azure’s comprehensive hybrid and multi-cloud solutions stand out, offering centralised management, robust security, and compliance features tailored to business needs, making it an ideal choice for organisations pursuing cloud-based transformation in a complex digital landscape.
In this blog, we will talk about why a hybrid and multi-cloud approach is essential, how Azure supports these models, and what unique benefits it offers to your businesses.
Why Businesses Are Choosing Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Strategies
All businesses face unique challenges, from flexible data freedom requirements to unpredictable operational costs. A hybrid and multi-cloud approach offers the flexibility to keep sensitive data on-premises or within your data centres while leveraging public clouds for less critical workloads. This strategy not only relieves risks of data loss and security breaches but also allows for a diversified infrastructure that avoids dependency on a single vendor, fostering resilience and a competitive edge.
Key benefits of hybrid and multi-cloud strategies:
- Flexibility and scalability: Scale workloads as needed, without being restricted to a single provider.
- Cost optimisation: Allocate resources cost-effectively by using different cloud services based on workload requirements.
- Enhanced resilience: Avoid vendor lock-in, ensuring continuity even if one provider experiences issues.
How Azure Enables Businesses in Adopting a Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Strategy
Ensuring Security and Compliance Across Clouds with Azure
Security and compliance are critical in all industries including healthcare, finance, government, and more. Azure’s extensive security features make it a reliable platform for businesses that prioritise data integrity and compliance with Australian regulations.
Azure offers:
- Azure Security Centre: A comprehensive platform that provides visibility and control over security settings across Azure and on-premises environments.
- Compliance Support for Australian Standards: Azure is fully compliant with standards like ISO 27001 and meets other requirements, offering businesses peace of mind in data governance.
- Data Sovereignty: For organisations handling sensitive information, Azure’s data residency options allow you to keep data secure, reducing risks associated with data transfers.
Cost Management and Optimisation with Azure
Cloud cost management is crucial for organisations that want to leverage the benefits of the cloud without overextending their budget. Azure Cost Management + Billing provides powerful tools that offer visibility into spending across multi-cloud environments and make it easy to implement cost-saving measures.
Key ways to optimise costs with Azure:
- Track usage patterns and set up budgets to prevent unexpected expenses.
- Use Reserved Instances for predictable workloads, allowing cost savings over pay-as-you-go prices.
- Right size resources to ensure that computing power is aligned with your needs, eliminating unnecessary expenditures.
For businesses, these features are particularly valuable, as they enable detailed tracking and optimisation of resources, making it easier to adapt to fluctuating demands.
Simplifying Multi-Cloud Management with Azure Arc
Azure Arc is a game-changer for businesses managing resources across different cloud providers or on-premises environments. With Azure Arc, you can unify management under a single control plane, simplifying operations and reducing administrative overhead.
Azure Arc benefits include:
- Centralised management: Govern and monitor resources across hybrid cloud and on-premises from one place.
- Enhanced security and compliance: Apply consistent security policies and compliance rules across your entire infrastructure.
- Kubernetes and Database Management: Easily deploy and manage Kubernetes clusters and databases, making it ideal for businesses with complex IT requirements.
Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery with Azure Backup Solutions
Business continuity is essential for every organisation, especially in highly regulated sectors where downtime can be costly. Azure offers robust disaster recovery and backup solutions that allow businesses to maintain critical operations even in the face of disruption.
Key features include:
- Azure Site Recovery: Enables quick recovery of applications in case of outages, ensuring minimal data loss.
- Azure Backup: Automated, scalable, and cost-effective solutions for backing up data in the cloud, allowing Australian businesses to maintain business continuity without complex setups.
Avoiding Vendor Lock-In with Azure’s Multi-Cloud Capabilities
Vendor lock-in can limit flexibility and force businesses to adapt to a single provider’s terms. Azure addresses this by supporting a multi-cloud approach, allowing organisations to use multiple cloud providers to avoid dependency and benefit from each provider’s unique strengths.
Azure’s open ecosystem is ideal for:
- Customising your cloud mix: Deploy services across multiple clouds to leverage the best tools for each workload.
- Enhancing flexibility: Migrate data and applications without the fear of lock-in, enabling innovation and competitiveness.
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Key Takeaways for Your Business Using Azure for Hybrid and Multi-Cloud
Azure empowers your business by:
- Offering a scalable and secure platform that meets local compliance requirements.
- Providing tools for cost management and multi-cloud visibility.
- Supporting disaster recovery and business continuity with easy-to-deploy solutions.
Best Practices for Adopting a Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Strategy with Azure
- Define Clear Objectives: Identify specific business goals for your cloud strategy and involve key stakeholders to ensure alignment.
- Conduct a Thorough Assessment: Evaluate your existing IT landscape, including applications and compliance needs, to determine what to migrate.
- Develop a Strategic Plan: Create a phased migration roadmap, starting with less critical applications, and establish governance policies for resource management.
- Leverage Azure Tools: Use Azure Migrate for assessment and planning and implement Azure Arc for centralised management across different environments.
- Focus on Security: Integrate security measures from the start using Azure Security Centre to monitor and manage your hybrid setup.
- Invest in Training: Provide training for your team on Azure tools and facilitate change management to ease the transition.
- Monitor and Optimise: Establish KPIs to track success and use Azure Cost Management tools to optimise resource allocation.
How To Do It? Partner with Exigo Tech to Unlock Azure’s Full Potential
Azure offers every business the tools they need to build a secure, compliant, and scalable hybrid or multi-cloud environment. Whether you’re just starting with a hybrid approach or looking to expand your existing infrastructure, Exigo Tech can help you make the most of Azure’s capabilities.
Our team of experts are aware of each and every step that we discussed in the above section. Additionally, we understand the unique requirements of Australian industries and are ready to support you in efficiently migrating to Azure.
If you have any doubts or questions, feel free to reach out to us at or call us at 1300 EXIGOTECH (394 468).
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