Hybrid Cloud vs. Multi-cloud:
What’s the Difference, and
Why Does It Matter?
Neal Matthews
A baseline to understanding how these two architec-
tural cloud approaches are being utilized by major
enterprises.
Although it has been a long road, enterprise IT is finally achieving at least a
general awareness of the benefits of cloud computing. While a picture of cloud
is emerging in their thinking and strategic planning, the path between the
“here and now” and the rosy cloud future tends to be murky. These companies’
future cloud environments are variously described using phrases such as
multi-cloud, hybrid cloud, cloud bursting, distributed cloud and even fog com-
puting. While any of these represent topics sufficient for a whole series of arti-
cles, let’s just look at the two terms that are often confused, yet are likely to be
the most important over the next few years: hybrid cloud and multi-cloud.
Hybrid Cloud
No large enterprise, no matter how well prepared, can simply leap to the cloud
in o