Multi-cloud Networking Software Guide (MCNS)

Advancements in technology coupled with the growing complexity of networks have required organizations to quickly adapt to new technologies and make the most of what they offer. Cloud technology brought about a pivotal shift a few years back as it opened the world of applications to users through the Internet. Today, businesses prefer to select different services from different technology providers, so they can have a custom strategy that works well for their operations, and also, reduce reliance on any single cloud service provider.

These needs have led to a multi-cloud strategy, where organizations prefer to create a basket of services from different providers. However, managing and orchestrating networks across multiple clouds can be complex and challenging. This is where Multi-Cloud Networking Software (MCNS) comes into play. MCNS solutions provide organizations with the means to seamlessly connect and control their networks across different cloud environments. 

In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the concept of MCNS, its benefits, challenges in adoption, considerations for implementation, available tools, factors to consider while choosing a tool, and the future of MCNS.

What is MCNS?

Multi-Cloud Networking Software, or MCNS in short, applies to a broad range of tools, technologies, platforms, and any software-defined networking solution that enables you to manage your resources across multiple cloud platforms. In many ways, MCNS acts as a virtual overlay network that abstracts the underlying cloud infrastructure, so your users can seamlessly navigate across multiple clouds to access the resources they need. From a user standpoint, MCNS provides a unified experience and they may not even know that your resources are spread across platforms. Such a unified and consistent network experience is the primary reason for organizations to go for MCNS today. 

Also, from a deployment standpoint, employees can seamlessly host applications and services, regardless of the underlying cloud provider.

As an organization, why should you go for MCNS? Besides the aspects we discussed above, let's take a more detailed look at the benefits offered by MCNS.

Benefits of MCNS

Besides a seamless user experience and deployment, MCNS also offers a wide range of other benefits. Some of them are:

• Enhanced Flexibility When you use MCNS, you have the flexibility to select the best services and resources from various cloud providers. You don't have to worry about incompatibilities, as the MCNS abstraction layer handles them for you. Needless to say, this flexibility optimizes your overall IT infrastructure and enables you to get more out of cloud services, without worrying about vendor lock-in.
• Improved Performance MCNS adds to the overall performance and productivity of your systems. Specifically, it enables you to efficiently handle load balancing and traffic management, both of which can lead to higher network speeds and performance. Furthermore, some tools come with fine-tuning and optimization features to leverage multiple cloud providers' capabilities for enhancing the efficiency of your operations.
• Increased Resilience With MCNS, you can distribute your workload across multiple clouds. This enhances resilience and reduces your dependency on any single service or provider. In turn, it can lead to high availability and increased fault tolerance because even if one cloud provider faces an outage, traffic can be seamlessly rerouted to alternative providers.
• Simplified Network Management The biggest hassle of working across multiple cloud providers is the need to facilitate and manage them. This is where MCNS can be a game-changer, as it provides a centralized management interface, using which network administrators can configure and monitor multi-cloud networks. Such a single point of control streamlines operations and reduces complexity. More importantly, it enables you to leverage the offerings of different providers without worrying about incompatibilities and the complexity of management.

Though these benefits make MCNS the perfect choice for every organization, it's important to note that many challenges impede its adoption.

Challenges in MCNS Adoption

Managing networks across diverse cloud environments is complex, to say the least. Below are some key challenges that you can face in your MCNS journey. Knowing these challenges will prepare you to handle them well.

• The Complexity of the Integrations Managing networks across multiple clouds brings up new complexities because of varying network architectures, security policies, and compatibility issues. Before opting for an MCNS strategy, you must evaluate the different options available and how they fit in together for your goals. Such a well-thought-out plan and implementation can provide the benefits you need while reducing the complexities and incompatibilities. 
• Interoperability Among Cloud Providers In today's fractured digital landscape, interoperability is a major concern. Not all services and platforms seamlessly connect. Still, from your operational standpoint, ensuring seamless integration and interoperability between different cloud providers' networking services is important.  Again, this requires a clear understanding of what you need and a careful evaluation of services that can fit well like a jigsaw puzzle. 
• Security and Compliance Security is a major issue in any integration, and it can take a new meaning in multiple cloud environments. This is because you will have to monitor the ever-changing policies of cloud providers and ensure that they align with your organization's security policies. Also, you have to ensure that cloud integrations don't open new vulnerabilities that can be hacked by cybercriminals. An excellent way to address these security issues is by implementing consistent security measures and compliance standards across multiple clouds with careful planning and coordination.
• Skill Gap An often overlooked aspect of MCNS is the non-availability of people with the right skills and experience to manage a multi-cloud environment. In particular, MCNS adoption may demand specialized skills and knowledge to effectively design, implement, and manage multi-cloud networks. Finding people with such skills and experience can be a challenge.

Thus, these are some key challenges to watch out for in an MCNS implementation. Given that the benefits far outweigh the challenges, go ahead with MCNS, but plan to address the challenges with proper planning and implementation.

Considerations for Implementation

Before designing and implementing MCNS, here are some aspects to keep in mind.

• Network Design A well-thought-out network architecture is crucial for a successful MCNS implementation. Before you start the design, spend time and effort on research. Consider factors like scalability, security, performance, and compliance requirements while deciding on the services and applications from different cloud providers.
• Connectivity Options Another critical aspect is to decide how the services and applications must communicate across cloud providers. Evaluate the available connectivity options, like Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), direct connections, or SD-WAN solutions. Accordingly, decide which combination works well based on your organization's needs.
• Security Measures Security is of utmost importance, so aim to implement comprehensive security measures like encryption, access controls, and network segmentation to safeguard data and applications across multi-cloud environments. While designing your security framework, consider the compliance requirements as well. 
• Automation and Orchestration Growing advancements in AI and ML have opened up new automation and orchestration opportunities. Many MCNS tools today offer automation and orchestration features that help streamline network provisioning, configuration, and management processes. Just make sure to choose a tool that best fits your needs.

Top MCNS Tools

Though there are many MCNS tools available that meet all the above-discussed considerations, here are the top choices.

1. VMware NSX

VMware NSX is a network virtualization platform that creates an abstraction layer over multiple cloud environments, so you can seamlessly move across services and applications. NSX also interweaves security as a part of its offerings to help your MCNS environment to be secure and compliant. 

This tool takes a software-defined approach, and as a result, provides the flexibility and scalability you need to extend across data centers, cloud platforms, frameworks, and more. Additionally, NSX offers centralized control and management across multiple clouds to provide the in-depth visibility you need over different cloud environments. Plus, it also supports automation, self-service, and optimization capabilities. Try VMware NSX Hands-on Labs for free.

2. Cisco ACI 

Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) is another tool for handling MCNS environments. It offers a policy-driven approach for managing and securing multi-cloud networks, and in the process, enables organizations to implement consistent policies across all environments.  ACI takes a proactive approach to integration across cloud providers and, through it, gives the visibility you need to optimize your overall infrastructure. 

Furthermore, this tool comes with advanced automation capabilities to streamline operations and accelerate your network deployment. Its zero-trust and automation policies boost security, while its ability to connect to any workload in any location reduces complexity and boosts the availability of your cloud offering. Lastly, ACI's intuitive dashboard provides the big picture of your cloud integrations. Register for a demo.

3. Juniper Contrail 

Contrail is an SDN and orchestration platform that offers a cloud-native approach to MCNS management. Organizations can use this tool to connect and secure different cloud workloads and services across both private and public clouds. Contrail also simplifies network management, improves application performance, and enhances security across different cloud environments.

The biggest advantage of Contrail is that you can orchestrate the entire lifecycle of your MCNS infrastructure, right from creation to deployment and delivery. Moreover, the modular and open framework of Contrail makes it conducive for seamless extensibility across emerging cloud platforms as well. You can try Contrail for free.

Regardless of which tool you choose, note that you will have to invest considerably in these tools. But they are worth your resources because MCNS has a promising future.

Future of MCNS

The future of MCNS looks promising as organizations continue to embrace the offerings of multiple cloud providers. Advancements in technologies, like software-defined networking, network function virtualization, and artificial intelligence are expected to further enhance the capabilities of MCNS tools. In turn, these capabilities can make MCNS platforms more conducive to more complex multi-cloud strategies. For example, edge computing and the Internet of Things (IoT) are emerging in a big way.  Sooner or later, organizations will need to extend their networks to edge locations and effectively manage the connectivity between edge devices and multi-cloud environments. This is where MCNS tools will come in handy, as they can enable secure and efficient communication across these emerging technologies. Additionally, MCNS tools can empower organizations to dynamically manage and optimize multi-cloud networks, and improve overall network performance, scalability, and flexibility.

Specifically, the interoperability between different cloud providers' networking services is also expected to improve, making it easier to integrate and manage multi-cloud environments. Standardization efforts and industry collaborations are already happening at a rapid pace. In the next few years, we can expect the development of common networking frameworks. Going forward, such efforts will also allow for seamless connectivity and consistent network management across various cloud platforms.

Overall, the future of MCNS and the positive developments happening in it will empower organizations to effectively manage and optimize their multi-cloud networks. It can help unlock new possibilities for innovation, scalability, and agility in the digital era. To make the most of what MCNS has to offer, organizations can lay the foundation by adopting one of the MCNS tools today.