– Article in partnership with Veritas Technologies LLC. –
The multi-cloud was embraced as a single heterogeneous architecture capable of hosting a range of cloud computing and storage services from different vendors. But now, nearly a decade later, organizations find themselves having to manage, control and store various solutions with different configurations. And so, the solution to the initial problem of cost and efficiency has created new and unexpected problems. Let’s see together which ones.
Solving one problem can generate others
Without realizing it, our “solutions” to complex problems are often just partial steps in the right direction. Solving one problem eventually gives rise to another. Here, I have in mind the massive advances in cloud configurations, and virtualization more generally — with its increasingly complex innovations and architectures that solve many problems and allow us to respond to app requirements with accuracy, precision, and targeting.
Consider edge computing and cloud services that allow us to decentralize application functions and data processing where events actually occur. The hybrid cloud is another prime example, insofar as it is made up of apps and data whose management is divided between our home and the cloud. Still, we go further. Emerging data sovereignty issues are revolutionizing how data is processed and stored. Although countries’ laws vary, these processes often take place locally, and the corresponding data must remain locally.
Initially, the multi-cloud was embraced as a single, heterogenous architecture that was capable of housing a variety of cloud computing and storage services from different vendors. But now, almost a decade later, organizations are left to manage, control, and store a broad variety of solutions with different configurations. And so, the solution to the initial problem of cost and efficiency has created new, unexpected issues.
The moral of this story is best captured by the great theoretical physicist, Albert Einstein, who said: “You can’t solve a problem with the same kind of thinking you used to create it.”
A paradigm shift in Cloud data management and protection
I had the opportunity to reflect on this while I was watching Petter Sveum’s presentation for VMware Explore 2022. Taking a unified approach to multi-cloud configuration, he emphasized the ability to operate without compromise.
When combined with daily tactics, this strategy allows an organization to be resilient against cyber and ransomware attacks — i.e., nefarious users who encrypt data and then provide a key in exchange for a ransom. Sveum’s unified approach also streamlines management processes over the many heterogeneous environments the multi-cloud has forced us into governing. On top of that, it enhances the overall visibility of the infrastructure, its costs, and operational compliance. While these elements are often underestimated, they can end up becoming the Achilles’ heel of an organization, whether from a financial standpoint or the problems tied to oversight.
I could go on, but it’s, no doubt, more useful to show CIOs what I have in mind below (in infographic form).
Autonomous data management and protection
NetBackup extends far beyond unified management through the simple and intuitive user interface: Autonomous Data Management and Protection. To explain the underlying concept, I like to draw a parallel with self-driving vehicles. When I take the wheel, I choose my destination and my car transports me there by accelerating, braking, and turning. Likewise, NetBackup performs critical operations with full autonomy. After setting up a data management and protection strategy, it makes backups, scans data for anomalies (such as malware), and optimizes operations to improve performance and reduce the total cost of ownership of the all-important cloud data protection models.
Solving multi-cloud problems requires autonomous data management and protection, striving for a more sustainable cloud Click To Tweet
Commitment to a more sustainable Cloud
It also does this in an environmentally sustainable way, boasting a 95% savings rate in storage footprint and efficiency of transmission, and -40% for compute instance use.
In the face of such ingenuity, there is nothing more for me to do than express my appreciation both as a (former) software developer — who knows the limitations and problems well — and as a global citizen who values sustainability efforts. Ultimately, I applaud the paradigm shift that Veritas has driven in cloud data management and protection with NetBackup, not to mention the fact that they are solving many problems without creating new ones.
- Original article previously published here
