The Doppler Quarterly Special Edition 2019 | Page 17

A reasonable question might be, doesn’t that add complexity? The answer is, yes, it
does. However, under the right circumstances, the benefit is worth the complexity. In
this model, there is an architecture assessment process that explicitly considers the
option of using a second (or third) cloud provider, given that the value for the use case
justifies the extra effort. These types of scenarios can include the following:
• Reaching out from the primary cloud provider to use an API-driven service on the
second provider. Because authentication can be handled at the individual request
level, an entire duplicate identity infrastructure on the second cloud provider isn’t
required.
• Utilizing a particular query-friendly data store in the second cloud provider, pop-
ulated via messaging queues or object storage originating in the first cloud pro-
vider. (This can be effective if egress data volumes aren’t too high.)
• Machine learning training can be performed on a second cloud vendor, especially
if the source data is publicly available. Then the results can be brought over to
the primary cloud to build and deploy real-time scoring applications.
While the above are only three examples, they illustrate how this model provides a bal-
anced approach, avoids the lowest common denominator problem and provides access
to the latest cloud innovations, all while keeping complexity in check.
Of course, every enterprise is different, and there may be compelling reasons and prior-
ities in a specific case that indicate a different approach. There are certainly architec-
tures and options available other than those just discussed, but this should provide a
solid baseline to understanding how two major architectural approaches to cloud are
being utilized by major enterprises. Maybe yours can utilize them as well!
Written by Neal Matthews, Principal Cloud Architect, HPE
SPECIAL EDITION 2019 | THE DOPPLER | 15