• About Us
  • Partnership Opportunities
  • Privacy Policy

Data Center Frontier

Charting the future of data centers and cloud computing.

  • Cloud
    • Hyperscale
  • Colo
    • Site Selection
    • Interconnection
  • Energy
    • Sustainability
  • Cooling
  • Technology
    • Internet of Things
    • AI & Machine Learning
    • Edge Computing
    • Virtual Reality
    • Autonomous Cars
    • 5G Wireless
    • Satellites
  • Design
    • Servers
    • Storage
    • Network
  • Voices
  • Podcast
  • White Papers
  • Resources
    • COVID-19
    • Events
    • Newsletter
    • Companies
    • Data Center 101
  • Jobs
You are here: Home / Executive Roundtable / Roundtable: A Look Into the Multi-Cloud Future

Roundtable: A Look Into the Multi-Cloud Future

By Rich Miller - July 27, 2017

Roundtable: A Look Into the Multi-Cloud Future

A horizon filled with clouds, rising above the mountains, and viewed from the roof of the Facebook data center in Prineville, Oregon - an example of the growing scale of cloud infrastructure. (Photo: Rich Miller)

LinkedinTwitterFacebookSubscribe
Mail

Today we continue our Data Center Executive Roundtable, a quarterly feature showcasing the insights of thought leaders on the state of the data center industry, and where it is headed. In today’s discussion, our panel of experienced data center executives – Aligned Energy CEO Andrew Schaap, Shay Demmons of RunSmart, FORTRUST COO Robert McClary, and Bob Woolley of RagingWire Data Centers – discuss trends in cloud computing and the trend toward customer adoption of multiple cloud platforms.

The conversation is moderated by Rich Miller, the founder and editor of Data Center Frontier.

Data Center Frontier: It’s increasingly a multi-cloud world. What are key strategies that data center operators and their customers can use to address multi-cloud deployments?

SHAY DEMMONS, BASELAYER RunSmart

SHAY DEMMONS,  RunSmart

Shay Demmons: Multi-cloud deployments eliminate the problem of having all your eggs in one basket, but in return add a new layer of complexity to your data center management. The key to maximizing your multi-cloud or hybrid cloud deployment is to ensure that you have fully integrated your platform from cloud to on-premise and all the systems in-between so that you can start to leverage your resources and take advantage of your new flexibility.

If done correctly, data center operators can change the way they manage workloads by sending jobs to the lowest cost resource, in real-time. This will be determined by the workload, and predefined factors that affect its priority: Does the job require lots of I/O? Is the job sensitive to latency? Will the workload be resource intensive? Traditional follow-the-sun strategies shared the same type of business metrics, essentially utilizing a pool of globally distributed resources as needed to reduce cost. Multi-cloud strategies will share a similar consideration.

Your actual workload should drive business decisions and your software-defined data center solution should help to not only manage your multi-cloud deployment but make it a resource that reduces cost.

ROBERT WOOLLEY. RagingWire Data Centers

ROBERT WOOLLEY. RagingWire Data Centers

Robert Woolley:  Twenty years ago, the choice was between a telecom data center, optimized around a single carrier and a carrier neutral data center, designed to host multiple telecommunications PoPs or points of presence. Most of us would agree that carrier neutral won. Today the choice is between a dedicated data center server environment or a hybrid deployment of colocation, cloud, and legacy in-house data centers. We believe the hybrid approach will win.

In this new hybrid world, data center providers need to make it as easy to connect to multiple clouds as it is to connect to multiple telecommunications networks. The result will take software-defined networks (SDNs) from theory into practice and ultimately a business imperative.

Using SDN, the data center provider delivers direct connections to top cloud providers. We are also seeing this network used to connect to software as a service (SaaS) applications and an ecosystem of on-net buildings and service partners. With this approach, data center customers have full control over their cloud connections. They can turn up, turn down, and change individual connections at any time without involvement from the data center provider. Reporting is in real-time and on-demand.

Interestingly, multi-cloud deployments have ended up delivering a different value proposition than originally conceived. Multi-cloud was once thought to be a strategy for driving down pricing to razor thin margins. Instead, multi-cloud has become a best practice for delivering scalable and flexible on-demand capacity for applications that require that type of computing. For more stable applications, dedicated servers are proving to be more cost effective and reliable.

The hybrid computing model delivered in a colocation data center that meets the requirements for uptime and scalability provides the best of both worlds.

ANDREW SCHAAP, Aligned Data Centers

ANDREW SCHAAP, Aligned Data Centers

Andrew Schaap: Actually, I would argue that it’s fast-becoming a hybrid-cloud world because many companies are dealing with multiple clouds, data sources and vendors. While businesses continue to think about their scalability, it’s important for their data center provider to be able to future-proof their site selection criteria; meaning not just plan for their density needs today, but for future growth. Organizations are only as agile, fast, and visionary as their data centers.

Cloud, colocation, or on premise, the data center is the factory of the digital age. Success requires a data center partner who can deliver space, cooling, power and network capacity nimbly and quickly and has a strategic vision for how to meet the capacity needs of tomorrow.

Robert McClary, FORTRUST

Robert McClary, FORTRUST

Robert McClary: Data centers in general, and colocation data centers in particular, need to start providing an ecosystem model for their tenants, meaning their tenants or customers have to have access to several different options.

They have to have convenient choices, whether it’s public or private cloud services, or different types of cloud services, and they need to have exposure to all those different cloud services inside a colocation data center.

RECAP: Bookmark our entire DCF Executive Roundtable

Keep pace with the fact-moving world of data centers and cloud computing by following us on Twitter and Facebook, connecting with me on LinkedIn, and signing up for our weekly newspaper using the form below:

LinkedinTwitterFacebookSubscribe
Mail

Tagged With: Aligned, Fortrust, RagingWire Data Centers, RunSmart

Newsletters

Stay informed: Get our weekly updates!

Are you a new reader? Follow Data Center Frontier on Twitter or Facebook.

About Rich Miller

I write about the places where the Internet lives, telling the story of data centers and the people who build them. I founded Data Center Knowledge, the data center industry's leading news site. Now I'm exploring the future of cloud computing at Data Center Frontier.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Voices of the Industry

Equipment Longevity & Performance: Why the Bathtub Curve Is Inaccurate

Equipment Longevity & Performance: Why the Bathtub Curve Is Inaccurate Chad Peters, Director of Infrastructure Solutions for Service Express, revisits the Bathtub Curve theory and explains how to track equipment reliability and performance for data-driven buying decisions.

White Papers

Cloud computing

Intel MCA+MFP Helps JD Stable and Efficient Cloud Services

A new white paper from Intel explores how Intel MCA Recovery  + MFP has helped JD Cloud provide efficient and stable services to their more than 2,500 partners.

Get this PDF emailed to you.

We always respect your privacy and we never sell or rent our list to third parties. By downloading this White Paper you are agreeing to our terms of service. You can opt out at any time.

DCF Spotlight

Data center modules on display at the recent Edge Congress conference in Austin, Texas. (Photo: Rich Miller)

Edge Computing is Poised to Remake the Data Center Landscape

Data center leaders are investing in edge computing and edge solutions and actively looking at new ways to deploy edge capacity to support evolving business and user requirements.

An aerial view of major facilities in Data Center Alley in Ashburn, Virginia. (Image: Loudoun County)

Northern Virginia Data Center Market: The Focal Point for Cloud Growth

The Northern Virginia data center market is seeing a surge in supply and an even bigger surge in demand. Data Center Frontier explores trends, stats and future expectations for the No. 1 data center market in the country.

See More Spotlight Features

Newsletters

Get the Latest News from Data Center Frontier

Job Listings

RSS Job Openings | Pkaza Critical Facilities Recruiting

  • MEP Coordinator - Data Center Construction - Ashburn, VA
  • Data Center Facility Engineer - Chantilly, VA
  • Data Center Site Operations VP - Seattle, WA
  • Senior Electrical Engineer - Data Center - Denver, CO
  • Senior Estimator - Data Center Construction - Denver, CO

See More Jobs

Data Center 101

Data Center 101: Mastering the Basics of the Data Center Industry

Data Center 101: Mastering the Basics of the Data Center Industry

Data Center Frontier, in partnership with Open Spectrum, brings our readers a series that provides an introductory guidebook to the ins and outs of the data center and colocation industry. Think power systems, cooling, solutions, data center contracts and more. The Data Center 101 Special Report series is directed to those new to the industry, or those of our readers who need to brush up on the basics.

  • Data Center Power
  • Data Center Cooling
  • Strategies for Data Center Location
  • Data Center Pricing Negotiating
  • Cloud Computing

See More Data center 101 Topics

About Us

Charting the future of data centers and cloud computing. We write about what’s next for the Internet, and the innovations that will take us there. We tell the story of the digital economy through the data center facilities that power cloud computing and the people who build them. Read more ...
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

About Our Founder

Data Center Frontier is edited by Rich Miller, the data center industry’s most experienced journalist. For more than 20 years, Rich has profiled the key role played by data centers in the Internet revolution. Meet the DCF team.

TOPICS

  • 5G Wireless
  • Cloud
  • Colo
  • Connected Cars
  • Cooling
  • Cornerstone
  • Coronavirus
  • Design
  • Edge Computing
  • Energy
  • Executive Roundtable
  • Featured
  • Finance
  • Hyperscale
  • Interconnection
  • Internet of Things
  • Machine Learning
  • Network
  • Podcast
  • Servers
  • Site Selection
  • Social Business
  • Special Reports
  • Storage
  • Sustainability
  • Videos
  • Virtual Reality
  • Voices of the Industry
  • Webinar
  • White Paper

Copyright Endeavor Business Media© 2022