Cloud, Security & Operations
Multi-Cloud Architecture
Architecture for organisations that run on more than one public cloud, covering when multi-cloud is justified, how to govern it, and how to avoid paying twice for complexity.
Capability overview
What multi-cloud architecture involves
Multi-cloud often happens by accident: an acquisition brings Azure into an AWS company, or a data team adopts Google BigQuery. Sometimes it is deliberate, for regulatory resilience or best-of-breed services. Either way, it doubles the skills, controls and tools needed unless it is architected carefully.
We start by questioning the reason for multi-cloud, because running the same application portably across providers is expensive and rarely necessary. The usual design places each workload on one provider, with shared identity, infrastructure as code in Terraform, central security monitoring and a single cost view across clouds.
What is included
Design considerations
Justification review
Each multi-cloud driver tested for real value, such as regulator expectations, specific managed services or a stronger negotiating position with providers.
Common foundations
Terraform modules, naming, tagging and policy-as-code applied consistently across AWS, Azure and Google Cloud.
Cross-cloud networking
Private interconnects or VPN meshes designed for workloads that genuinely need to talk across providers, with egress costs estimated.
Unified governance
One identity provider, central security posture monitoring and FinOps reporting that combines billing from every cloud.
How we work
How we deliver multi-cloud architecture
Current state review
Accounts, subscriptions and projects across providers inventoried with owners and spend.
Placement rules
Criteria agreed for which kinds of workload go to which provider, avoiding case-by-case debate every time a new project starts.
Tooling consolidation
Overlapping monitoring, security and deployment tools reduced to a common set where possible.
Foundation alignment
Guardrails and landing zone standards brought to the same level on every provider.
Skills plan
Team structure and training defined so each cloud has enough depth to operate safely.
Related capabilities
Related capabilities in Cloud & DevOps
DevOps Consulting
An assessment of how software moves from commit to production in your organisation, and a practical plan to release more often with fewer failures, based on DORA delivery metrics.
CI/CD Implementation
CI/CD implementation automates build, test and deployment pipelines in GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Azure DevOps or Jenkins, making releases routine and reliable.
Infrastructure as Code
Defining cloud and on-premises infrastructure in version-controlled code with Terraform, OpenTofu, Bicep or Pulumi, so environments are reproducible, reviewed and free from manual drift.
Containerization
Containerization packages applications and their dependencies into container images so they run identically across laptop, testing and production environments.
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Where this applies
Healthcare & Life Sciences
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Banking, Financial Services & Insurance
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Digital platforms for customer experience, operations, commerce, content, marketing and service…
Questions & answers
Questions about Multi-Cloud Architecture
Cannot find what you need? Our team responds to technical and commercial questions within one business day.
Ask a questionRarely in practice. Running one application active across two providers is complex and costly. Multi-region design within one provider gives strong resilience for most needs at a fraction of the effort.
Kubernetes makes containers portable, but databases, identity, networking and managed services still differ per provider. It helps with portability, it does not remove lock-in.
Data transfer between providers and duplicated skills. Egress charges for moving data across clouds can be significant, and each platform needs experienced engineers.
A review of an existing multi-cloud estate is a fixed-price engagement, typically three to five weeks, with implementation quoted separately.
Next step
Discuss multi-cloud architecture with Acmez
Share what you need to change, build, integrate or support. We will map the practical next step.