Interaction - Sandeep Bhargava, MD, APJ, Rackspace Technology

Migration to Cloud is catching the interest of the enterprises now. Sandeep Bhargava, MD, APJ, Rackspace, discusses some aspects with us.

What are some of the biggest challenges that companies are facing when it comes to multi-Cloud deployments?

Sandeep Bhargava - With the explosion of Cloud applications and the rise of hybrid and multi-Cloud infrastructures, complexity has begun to overwhelm many organisations. Here are three main challenges that hinder progress to such transformation -

1. Complex applications and infrastructure that are difficult to integrate with the latest technologies including migration to the cloud
2. Managing multi- and hybrid Cloud environments and spend
3. A lack of experience and resources

As businesses embark on digital transformation, IT leaders must adopt a transformative and optimised approach with a digital strategy based on the cloud driving the growth of the business.

Businesses require a single view of their usage levels and cost regardless of the number of Cloud platforms used so that they can determine if they are getting the optimal return-on-investment for their spending while keeping an eye on their operating expenses.

How can businesses overcome these challenges?

Sandeep Bhargava - The journey from traditional IT to a hybrid or multi-Cloud environment can be difficult. With a wide range of choices available, organisations need to select the right Cloud platform and tools carefully for different workloads instead of taking a one-size-fits-all approach to cloud deployment. Only by doing so will they be able to accelerate the value of the Cloud with an eye to deliver desired business outcomes.

​As opposed to struggling with challenges in-house, organisations can seize digital business and IT opportunities with the help of a Managed Cloud Service Provider. The right partner can accelerate an organisation's digital transformation journey and guide them through complex, competing cloud platform claims and value propositions.

How is data security ensured in a multi-Cloud system? 

Sandeep Bhargava - In an environment where companies are being constantly targeted with advanced persistent threats, enterprises can engage with Managed Services Providers (MSPs) to manage their data across Cloud, applications, security, data and infrastructure. To minimise Cloud risks, organisations will need to have a multi-layered security strategy on-premise and across multiple clouds to provide detection, response and remediation. Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) will have to work across their organisations to ensure that security remains a priority through future innovations.

What are the adoption trends for hybrid and multi-Cloud in the local industries?

Sandeep Bhargava - With the ability to enable rapid business transformation plans and to use on-demand, scalable models to achieve cost efficiency and business continuity, organisations have begun to pay closer attention to cloud. A November 2020 Gartner report forecasted that public cloud end-user spending will increase by 18.4 percent this year to a total of US$304.9 billion, up from US$257.5 billion in 2020.

Indian organisations looking to adopt multi-cloud must be prepared to handle the challenges of managing a hybrid or multi-cloud environment. They must be aware that operational and management challenges cannot be ignored in a multi-cloud environment and that strict discipline is required to efficiently visualise resources and manage overall performance.

IDC estimates that by 2022, 30 percent of enterprises in India will deploy unified VMs, Kubernetes, and multi-cloud management processes and tools to support robust multi-cloud management and governance across on-premises and public clouds.  Additionally, by 2023, they believe a third of Indian enterprise applications will be deployed in a containerised hybrid cloud/multi-cloud environment to provide agility, delivering a frictionless deployment and management experience.

What are the specific variations in the Cloud markets of the APJ countries in terms of customer demands?

Sandeep Bhargava - As businesses innovate to stay ahead, digital disruption will require all organisations to be more agile with multi-cloud becoming the preferred IT foundation for more organisations. By 2022, more than 55 percent of enterprises in the Asia Pacific region will use multiple Cloud providers. This transition to multi-Cloud will lead to increased investments in cross-platform resource management, with the revenue for the cloud computing market in Southeast Asia estimated to reach US$40.32 billion by 2025.

Companies in Asia Pacific are also trying for cost optimisation as a driving force towards Cloud adoption. The Cloud enables companies to leverage the power and performance of enterprise-grade IT infrastructure without having to incur the capital expenditure of managing and maintaining their own hardware. The pay-as-you-go model also enables organisations to manage costs more effectively.