Many organizations have application sets
that can work independently with regard to
their associated data.
Our goal then is to locate data where it makes sense based
on the application (and geographic) need. While it may not
be as straightforward as simply replicating all the data
everywhere, it may make more sense in the long run, both
operationally and financially. And of course, this “right data
in the right place” approach is all part of planning, analysis
and creating a data portability strategy that makes sense
for your particular needs.
Creating a Data Portability Strategy
Now that we have looked at several scenarios related to
data portability in the cloud, let us consider the steps that
should be taken before moving the first byte out of the data
center or from one public cloud to another.
1. Determine the level of risk
Risk assessment and risk mitigation are sound prac-
tices in any business endeavor but especially in IT
operations. The number of things that can go wrong
can be staggering, and planning for those things can
often take weeks or months.
2. Plan for data movement
It is convenient to assume that data will move into
the public cloud and stay there, but it is not very real-
istic. And you still have to move that data to begin
with, which takes time. You have to plan for data
movement not only into the cloud, but between
clouds and back out again in the event you decide (or
are forced) to move. Using standard data formats,
data abstraction layers and service-based architec-
tures can alleviate (but not eliminate) some of these
concerns.
3. Design applications for the cloud
Monolithic applications often require monolithic data
sources and the associated access processes for
those sources. The growing use of microservices and
their associated data sets allow for breaking apart
massive data stores into manageable chunks, which
then (potentially) make migrating those services and
data between clouds much easier and less
time-consuming.
Conclusion
Application workload portability continues to be a chal-
lenge for organizations seeking to leverage multiple cloud
platforms. Regardless of the reason for choosing portability
as a goal, the associated data portability issues will dwarf
any application stack issues. And the bigger the data, the
more difficult it will be to gain portability, simply due to the
time and cost associated with moving that data around.
Start now by examining your applications and their data,
and carefully consider the real costs of portability against
the perceived value. Multicloud operations are achievable
and can provide real value to your organization. Data porta-
bility can be planned for and managed in order to minimize
costs and maximize benefits. And your cloud strategy will
no longer be weighed down by the data it is handling.
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