IDC PlanScape

IDC PlanScape: Multicloud Networking

Brad Casemore

IDC PLANSCAPE FIGURE

FIGURE 1

IDC PlanScape: Executive Summary of Multicloud Networking

Source: IDC, 2020

June 2020, IDC #US46574120

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The embrace of multicloud entails extensive modernization and transformation of IT infrastructure,

including the network. IDC has found that enterprises that fail to properly appreciate the need for
network infrastructure modernization invariably discover that the network becomes an inhibitor to
successful digital transformation.

While networking has been software defined in the on-premises datacenter and even across the WAN
(in the form of SD-WAN), the rise of multicloud means that the need for intelligent, policy-based
network automation and control extends even further. As IT goes hybrid and applications are
distributed across clouds, there's a need not only for consistent, extensible network and security policy
spanning this new landscape but also for a new way of routing traffic expeditiously and reliably through
cloud middle miles and cloud cores, providing secure ingresses and convenient on-ramps into clouds
to mitigate latency, improve availability, and enhance application experience.

This IDC study helps understand why multicloud networking is important, what multicloud networking
is, who the key stakeholders for the technology should be within your organization, and how your
organization can leverage multicloud networking in support of your digital transformation initiatives.

According to Brad Casemore, VP research, Datacenter Networking, "As enterprises migrate

applications to public IaaS clouds and SaaS environments, a need grows for an on-demand, elastically
scalable, and highly available multicloud network. The multicloud network should adhere to the same
cloud principles and possess the same essential attributes as the public clouds to which it connects.
Ideally, the multicloud network should help enterprises mitigate operational complexity and facilitate
the definition and enforcement of consistent, if not uniform, network and security policy across a
distributed application landscape."

WHY IS MULTICLOUD NETWORKING IMPORTANT?

As enterprises execute on their multicloud strategy, they invariably find that infrastructure
modernization is both acutely required and highly challenging. While compute and storage
infrastructure have largely aligned with cloud principles and the needs of multicloud environments, the
network has struggled to keep pace.

Unfortunately, many enterprises often aren't fully cognizant of their networks' multicloud deficiencies
and limitations until they experience them firsthand. By then, the network's inability to accommodate
new requirements would have impaired enterprise's realization of its multicloud strategy. In fact, IDC
has found that enterprises frequently overlook or undervalue network modernization as a requirement
in their adoption of multicloud, only to learn belatedly and at a high cost that a recast network is
absolutely critical to multicloud success.

Conversely, enterprises that have experienced these problems, or have given the matter a greater
degree of advance consideration, recognize the need for network transformation. Indeed, in IDC's
2019 Datacenter Operational Survey, enterprise respondents identified "ensure data security and
compliance" and "improve network performance" as their top 2 priorities and challenges in hybrid IT
and multicloud. Similarly, in the latest IDC's Cloud Pulse Survey, 59% of enterprise respondents
indicated that "integrated network processes across cloud providers" will be an important area for
cloud investments during the next two years.

©2020 IDC #US46574120 2

Today, enterprises have begun to address multicloud networking in a variety of ways. Some leverage
colocation facilities and interconnection-oriented architectures, or they attempt to address the need
themselves through self-integration efforts, or they seek help from service providers (SPs) and
managed service providers. Others adopt network virtualization, SD-Core middle miles, virtual private
networks (VPNs), or a variety of cloud tools to address multicloud networking. In the What Is
Multicloud Networking? section, IDC defines multicloud networking and considers some of the options
at enterprises' disposal.

WHAT IS MULTICLCOUD NETWORKING?

As enterprises have migrated applications to public IaaS clouds and SaaS environments, both the
datacenter and the datacenter network have become distributed. Multicloud networking is what has
arisen in the wake of distributed workloads and the multicloud datacenter. Multicloud networking is
designed to meet the need for a declaratively and simply managed, on-demand, elastically scalable,
and highly available distributed network that spans hybrid and multicloud environments.

Many different components and options are available to enterprises seeking to implement a multicloud
network. IaaS cloud vendors such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud offer cloud cores,
global transit networks, and cloud WANs. Datacenter SDN vendors have extended and enhanced their
platforms to support the definition and enforcement of consistent network and security policies from the
on-premises enterprise datacenter to hybrid environments and multicloud. Multicloud networking start-
ups have emerged — such as Aviatrix, Alkira, Nefeli, and Volterra — to meet the new enterprise need.
Others active in the space include "SD-Core" providers, such as Teridion and Mode, and
interconnection-oriented architectures from the likes of Equinix and Digital Realty. At the edge, out at
the enterprise branch, SD-WAN vendors are partnering with some of these players — especially the
IaaS clouds and interconnection-oriented service providers, and also the SD-Core players — to
augment their last-mile overlays with POPs and overlays that circumvent the internet and provide
better service and greater security through middle miles and cores.

In addition, communications SPs, such as telcos, also seek to play here, offering their transport
networks, hosting services, and connectivity services to clouds. Many of the aforementioned solutions,
however, are designed to reduce enterprise dependence on both the best effort internet providers and
telco service providers.

Enterprise can also opt for a DIY approach to building a comprehensive multicloud network. In
assuming responsibility for multicloud network self-integration, your enterprise can gain the benefit of
customization and control, but those benefits can come at the cost of a high degree of architectural
and operational complexity, including time-consuming manual provisioning, the need for specialized
expertise across various APIs and cloud-specific network processes and technologies, difficult routing
challenges across regions and clouds, and the need to address the constraints and peculiarities of
specific clouds.

In networking, complexity always translates into costly and lengthy processes. This problem is
compounded by the lack of cross-cloud networking expertise in most enterprise IT departments. To be
fair, it isn't easy to quickly come up to speed on disparate cloud providers' architectures, network APIs,
and the growing array of network and security services offered by IaaS cloud providers, much less
devise and implement a DIY approach that helps bring consistency and unity to the management of
this increasingly critical infrastructure.

©2020 IDC #US46574120 3

IDC realizes that each enterprise is unique. For some, a DIY approach is both feasible and preferable
to other options. Before taking this path, however, you should have a clear understanding of
requirements and should be confident that your organization possesses the expertise, skill sets, and
resources necessary to execute on the plan and take it to fruition.

WHO ARE THE KEY STAKEHOLDERS?

The cloud has changed datacenter networking, and multicloud reinforces that change. Whereas
datacenter networking the client server era was the preserve of network engineers and network
operators (NetOps) who were masters of complexity, arcane specialists that operated within their own
technological silo, multicloud networking is a different matter entirely.

In the context of digital transformation, the application is the lifeblood of the business. It's increasingly
how the organization serves and engages with customers, how it works with partners, how it improves
the productivity of employees, and how its brand is defined in the wider world. The multicloud network
must be aligned with the needs of the application, moving at the speed of both business and software.
As more applications have migrated to cloud, the network also has had to adopt cloud principles,
which we discussed previously.

Whereas the stakeholders for a datacenter network in the previous era would have been limited
primarily to network engineers and network operators, the reality today is strikingly different. If
structure should follow strategy, as the adage goes, infrastructure also should adhere to strategy,
especially pursuant to digital transformation and cloud.

Network infrastructure has a purpose, namely, to reliably and securely support and deliver applications
and data across a multicloud landscape. That is why the network is not just the preserve of the NetOps
team. The network must get direction from, and align with, the business that it serves and the
applications that it carries. It's true that NetOps and cloud architectures will have the ultimate
responsibility for putting the multicloud networking plan into practical action, but others must inform
that effort for it to be successful. In detail:

 Lines of business (LOBs): The LOB will not know how to design or build a multicloud network,
but it has a valuable role to play in setting the agenda for the multicloud network. It's all about
the application, and the LOB mandates the developers to create the applications that
increasingly define the business. Nobody expects an LOB executive to know how to construct
network infrastructure for multicloud, but the LOB will provide valuable context for the CIO,
cloud architectures, and NetOps constituencies.
 CIOs: The CIO has a chart to set high-level direction for the overall IT team. Again, the CIO is
not expected to be a networking expert, though sometimes that is the case, but the CIO should
be able to provide an essential translating function that assures alignment between business
needs and the overall charter for the multicloud network.
 Cloud architects and IT architects: Taking their marching orders from CIOs, cloud architects
set the overall architectural framework for multicloud based on business requirements defined
by the LOB and other executives. The interplay between cloud architects and network
operators is critical. Indeed, if the network is to serve as the integral linchpin in a multicloud
world, the overall cloud architecture and network infrastructure and operations must be aligned
technologically with regard to both processes and workflows. Intelligent and pervasive
automation, applied throughout the life cycle of the network, is essential to meeting this
challenge.

©2020 IDC #US46574120 4

  Network operators: Working in conjunction with cloud architects, network operators will deploy
the multicloud network and run it on an ongoing basis. Network operators often lead and carry
out procurement, but they should work in close consultation with cloud architects throughout
the procure process to ensure that the network faithfully serves the purpose and objectives as
defined by business constituencies.

HOW CAN MY ORGANIZATION TAKE ADVANTAGE OF MULTICLOUD NETWORKING?

If your organization is pursuing multicloud as part of its digital transformation strategy, a

comprehensive multicloud network will be essential to ensure that the plan succeeds and delivers both
business value and operational efficiency. The best way to gain advantage from multicloud network is
to set a networking course that aligns closely with cloud principles and cloud operating models,
delivering on the promise of greater agility, increased flexibility, and enhanced operational simplicity.

To achieve that goal, your organization should resolutely build its multicloud network to serve the
business interests and priorities of the organization. That will translate into a focus on applications and
workloads. A multicloud network misaligned from applications will fail miserably.

A well-built multicloud network should deliver a range of cloud-aligned capabilities:

 On demand. Like the cloud, a multicloud network should be on demand — provisioned,

deployed, and available when needed.
 Autoscaling. Just as cloud resources scale up and down automatically as needed, a multicloud
network must similarly autoscale in alignment with the requirements of cloud workloads and
resources.
 Agility and speed. Traditional network infrastructures and the operational practices that
accompany them have long been cited for their lack of agility. A multicloud network, which
necessarily supports distributed cloud workloads, must be agile and capable of operating at
the speed of digital business.
 Pervasive, real-time visibility. Enterprises pursuing multicloud often encounter a range of
visibility challenges, including intermittent or partial visibility across clouds and too many blind
spots. To speed the process of troubleshooting and remediation and to help IT operations
achieve a more proactive posture toward network management, multicloud networks must
possess pervasive, real-time visibility.
In this regard, one must realize that the network provides the all-important digital nervous system for
business-critical applications. As such, it must possess the telemetry, visibility, and actionable
intelligence to ensure that distributed applications are kept available and responsive at all times.
Visibility informs faster troubleshooting and remediation, and it ultimately helps IT operators move
toward a more proactive and preventive approach to obviating network and security issues before they
result in application and service disruptions and outages.

©2020 IDC #US46574120 5

ADVICE FOR TECHNOLOGY BUYERS

The first question is whether you need a multicloud network. Fortunately, the answer to that question is
relatively easy to determine, depending entirely on where your organization's applications reside.
Again, starting from basic principles, the network exists to support and deliver applications. It is not an
island unto itself. Questions you should ask include the following:

 What does your application and workload landscape look like today, and how will it evolve in
the foreseeable future?
 At what rate are you migrating new and existing workloads to public clouds?
 Are you leveraging hybrid cloud today and moving toward a more aggressive multicloud
posture?
 How difficult is it for your organization to manage the networks that support distributed
workloads across a hybrid or multicloud environment? It might not be that difficult if you've just
begun the journey, with most of your applications still residing in an on-premises enterprise
datacenter, or if you have applications residing only in on-premises datacenters and a single
public cloud. Even then, however, you must look ahead and ask whether that will remain true
in the foreseeable future.
If you decide that you need a multicloud network, you then will have to determine what sort of
multicloud network you require and how you should build it. Only the most intrepid and resourceful
organizations ought to take a purely DIY approach, especially if you lack adequate cloud expertise or
are uncertain as to how to frame well-defined requirements. A piecemeal, patchwork approach is not
recommended for multicloud networking.

Generally, ease of procurement, consumption, deployment, and day-to-day management should be

highly prized. Such simplicity does not translate into a dumb network. To the contrary, the multicloud
network should possess considerable automated intelligence, abstracting and hiding the underlying
complexities of defining and maintaining consistent network and security policies, inserting network
and security services, and simplifying integrations with cloud-specific APIs, interfaces, and other
functions.

Finally, as you deliberate on what you need now and into the future, IDC strongly advises that you
consider that network preparedness for multicloud is often underappreciated or overlooked. In a
multicloud context, as enterprises pursue the imperative of continuous business transformation, they
will find that their ability to execute the strategy is only as strong as their weakest link. The network, by
its very nature, cannot afford to be weak link. For multicloud, the network must be intelligently
automated, agile, flexible, elastically scalable, reliable, secure, and simple to provision and manage on
an ongoing basis. Traditional architectural and operational network assumptions and models will prove
untenable for multicloud, causing the network to lag other forms of infrastructure and inhibit your
organization's ability to move with effectual speed.

RELATED RESEARCH

 Worldwide Datacenter Network Forecast, 2020–2024 (IDC #US41313617, May 2020)

 Five Major Datacenter Networking Trends in 2020 and Beyond (IDC #US46240520, May
2020)

©2020 IDC #US46574120 6

  IDC Survey Spotlight: Requirement to Connect Sites to IaaS Clouds Drives WAN
Modernization and Ecosystem Partnerships (IDC #US46397220, May 2020)
 IDC's Worldwide IT Cloud Services Taxonomy, 2019 (IDC #US45714519, December 2019)
 AWS re:Invent: Networking Announcements Address Simplicity, Global Scale, and Expanding
Use Cases (IDC #lcUS45746419, December 2019)
 Worldwide Datacenter Software-Defined Networking Forecast, 2019–2023 (IDC
#US45603219, November 2019)
 Market Analysis Perspective: Worldwide Datacenter Networking, 2019 (IDC #US45539519,
September 2019)

©2020 IDC #US46574120 7

About IDC
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