What is "multicloud"

Multicloud is the use of multiple cloud computing services in a single heterogeneous architecture.

For example, an enterprise may concurrently use separate cloud providers for infrastructure (IaaS) and software (SaaS) services, or use multiple infrastructure (IaaS) providers. In the latter case, they may use different infrastructure providers for different workloads, deploy a single workload load balanced across multiple providers (active-active), or deploy a single workload on one provider, with a backup on another (active-passive).

There are a number of reasons for deploying a multicloud architecture, including reducing reliance on any single vendor, increasing flexibility through choice, mitigating against disasters, etc. It is similar to the use of best-of-breed applications from multiple developers on a personal computer, rather than the defaults offered by the operating system vendor. It is a recognition of the fact that no one provider can be everything for everyone. It differs from hybrid cloud in that it refers to multiple cloud services rather than multiple deployment modes (public, private, legacy).

Various issues also present themselves in a multicloud environment. Security and governance is more complicated, and more "moving parts" may create resiliency issues. Selection of the right cloud products and services can also present a challenge, and users may suffer from the paradox of choice.