A survey of 1,106 business and technology executives published by the IBM Institute for Business Value, finds that 85 percent of companies are already operating in multicloud environments. Moreover, 98 percent are forecasting they will be using multicloud within three years. These findings should surprise nobody who reads this blog.
However, the survey finds that only 39 percent of the respondents have implemented devops processes and tool chains. From a devops perspective, 51 percent of respondents use multicloud to cultivate a flexible infrastructure that supports agile application deployments.
But 61 percent of those moving to multicloud are doing so without the benefit of devops. Thus, they are building a complex cloud architecture that can provision any platform of choice, any database of choice, and any storage system of choice in a matter of seconds. But they’re still building application solutions in the same way they have done in the last 20 years.
That’s like buying a Lamborghini and swapping in a smart car engine. Oh sure, it will run, but what the hell?
The reality is that the cloud is indeed like an engine. If you’re not using devops too, a cylinder—and probably a lot more—is not firing. At the same time, if you’re using devops without cloud, your results are similarly diminished. They have a symbiotic relationship.
I do not recommend moving to devops or the cloud unless you plan on doing both. Although you can build each on separate paths, you need to be committed to both paths. I understand budgets and other constraints, but as long as the objectives are aligned, things will be okay.
Yes, this makes the cloud that much more expensive and adds risk. But, unless you’re a sleepy company that never changes anything and your market remains the same over the years, the cloud is no longer optional.