Hybrid and multi-cloud strategies: 5 key differences

Simon Edward • 8 November 2024

Hybrid cloud, multi-cloud – what are the key differences? Get to grips with the basics in our accessible guide.

Customers, businesses and techies all love to talk of "the cloud". The cloud. That definite article suggests something solid and fixed like the Great Wall of China or the Eiffel Tower – one huge, floating repository for all the world's data, applications and workloads.

In fact, "the cloud" is an umbrella term that covers a huge range of technologies. The confusion this can cause is nowhere more obvious than in the distinction between hybrid and multi-cloud strategies.

It's easy to see why the confusion arises. "Hybrid" means two or more things joined together. "Multi" means… two or more things, probably joined together. What, then, is the difference?

There are key differences in how these cloud environments are deployed and used. But the fundamental difference is how each of them combines public and private clouds.

At the end of the day, there are only two places you can store your data and run your applications. There's an on-premise private cloud and there's a public cloud. The words "hybrid" and "multi" describe the way these public and private platforms interact.

In this article, we're going to run through five key differences between hybrid and multi-cloud solutions. But first, what's the difference between public and private?

Public and private clouds: what's the difference?

In everyday life, "public" and "private" have common-sense meanings. A park is a public place. Your bathroom is a private place. Simple.

In cloud technology, however, the difference is one of ownership. If an organisation has a private cloud, it owns the data centre and is responsible for its maintenance.

By contrast, public cloud providers own the infrastructure. A business pays for usage on a subscription basis. If there's a problem with one of the provider's data centres, they foot the bill and carry out maintenance.

Hybrid and multi-cloud strategies differ in how they combine private and public clouds.

A hybrid cloud is a connection made between a private cloud and a public cloud. A business with a hybrid cloud strategy can, in theory, seamlessly migrate workloads between those two environments.

Picture of the movement of data on a network.

A multi-cloud environment gets rid of the private cloud altogether. No more internal maintenance – instead, the business outsources upgrades and repairs to two or more public cloud providers.

Multi-cloud environments are sometimes referred to as "pick-and-choose" or "cherrypicking". This is slightly misleading because a hybrid cloud environment also lets businesses pick and choose. The difference is that a multi-cloud environment involves multiple public cloud providers rather than just one.

In principle, multi-cloud environments let businesses harness different services for different purposes, creating a bespoke cloud environment that meets their individual needs.

These differences are structural rather than practical. What are the key differences between the two strategies that make a tangible difference to businesses?

5 key differences between hybrid and multi-cloud solutions

1. Ownership

A hybrid cloud links an on-premise private cloud to a public cloud from a single vendor. This means a business with a hybrid strategy owns part of its cloud infrastructure. This could either be in the form of an in-house data centre or on dedicated servers in a third-party data centre.

Multi-cloud, by contrast, is a mix of public clouds from multiple vendors. You don't own the infrastructure any more than your office owns the electricity supply.

Sometimes, the question of ownership is a choice, with businesses deciding that ownership is less important than cost-effectiveness and flexibility, or vice versa. At other times, the decision is made for you.

This can be the case when one business acquires another. The acquired party may bring its own cloud environment with it.

Whatever the rationale, the choice between hybrid and multi-cloud strategies is fundamentally one of ownership.

2. Security

Before we go any further, it's crucial to say that both hybrid and multi-cloud solutions are highly secure. However, different deployments lead to different challenges.

With hybrid clouds, the question of security is simple. IT, whether internal or external, is responsible for cloud security just as it's responsible for maintaining its own data centre.

Multi-cloud strategies are a little different. Businesses end up with multiple tool sets from multiple providers. This doesn't have to be a problem. But if IT isn't on the alert, things can easily slip between the cracks.

Picture of sand slipping through someone's fingers.

The flip side is that public cloud providers invest huge amounts of money in their security posture. Access controls, encryption and the like are all a given. In some ways, security is less of a challenge than with a hybrid cloud environment.

3. The bottom line

Another key difference between hybrid and multi-cloud solutions is financial.

A hybrid solution can be costly, whether you're buying your on-premise data centre for the first time or keeping on top of management and maintenance.

Multi-cloud solutions are different. Businesses just pay subscriptions without outlay for equipment or maintenance.

One isn't better than the other. It all depends on your business goals – and your budget.

4. Availability

In the Age of the Cloud, uptime is king. Both hybrid and multi-cloud environments can give it to you in spades.

There's a difference, however. Public cloud providers prioritise high service levels. Hybrid cloud resources need some degree of management from the owner.

In other words, if a cloud in your multi-cloud environment goes down, the provider will ensure instant failover. If your on-premise data centre goes down, you may experience disruption.

5. Scalability

One huge difference between public and private clouds is the ability to scale.

Public cloud providers are scaling machines. Customers can increase storage simply by changing their subscriptions.

Hybrid clouds are the same insofar as they include a public cloud that can scale with ease. However, the presence of a private data centre can create obstacles to scaling.

It's another example of how the choice between hybrid and multi-cloud solutions isn't a choice between better or worse – just different. The main thing is to know what you want in detail and figure out which solution is the best for you.

Are you looking for a cloud consultant to help plan or execute a hybrid or multi-vendor cloud strategy? Here at Ascend Cloud Solutions, we've spent years honing our craft and helping organisations get more from the cloud. Get in touch today to book a no-obligation consultation.

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