How are modern CIOs making an impact with multi-cloud? A recently released VMware report,
“CIO Essential Guidance: Modernizing Applications in a Multi-Cloud World,” outlines these four
key factors that influence success:
Drive Developer Velocity
The best applications are created by the most talented developers, so it’s crucial to attract and
retain the best talent. Taking it a step further, according to a recent Forrester poll, 69% of
business leaders agreed that a good Developer Experience (DevEx) results in a better customer
experience (CX).1 In fact, it’s clear that DevEx directly impacts CX: 45% of enterprise IT
executives report that their dev teams push software releases on a monthly or faster pace (on
average).2
With so much at stake, it’s critical to enable your developers to do what they do best: code. But
all too often, barriers prevent this from happening. Cumbersome legacy platforms and tools
slow down developers, which is why CIOs need to remove friction from the underlying
development infrastructure and create an environment where teams can focus on achieving
outcomes.
This may include creating agile workflows and automating manual processes as well as
handoffs, provisioning and even meetings and paperwork. Adopting a cross-cloud development
platform that offers the programs and codes your developers prefer, including pre-selected
open-source products, will also elevate velocity, improve DevEx and unleash innovation.
Embrace Unified Cloud Management
Despite all the advantages of multi-cloud development environments, if you can’t easily
manage your cloud estate, you’re not reaping the full benefits. You could be underutilizing
resources from one cloud provider, while maxing out on another. Moreover, lack of visibility
means greater risk.
A successful strategy for overcoming these types of challenges is to choose the best cloud
provider for each app – whether it’s an application platform for developers, an observability
app for risk management, automation for operations, or something else — yet manage all
clouds as if they were one, using a single platform. This approach reduces operational
complexity and presents opportunities for greater governance, cost savings and risk
management.
Shift Security Left
Shifting security left – meaning building in features that bolster security across the entire app
pipeline, from the build phase all the way through deployment and optimization – is essential in
today’s complex threat landscape. This approach, combined with a unifying security platform
and modern development principles, reduces risks and allows you to identify vulnerabilities and
issues faster.
When security management controls reside on a central platform, CIOs can better manage risk,
compliance, and more across their overall cloud strategy – spanning entire application
development and operations processes.
Take a Platform-as-a-Product Approach
Unifying platforms are vitally important to the success of your modern apps in a multi-cloud
world. The operation of these platforms should be of the utmost importance, seeing as they are
the product that keeps the company running.
If you view your unifying multi-cloud platforms as drivers of innovation, growth and data
protection, and run them as a product, you can reimagine the way you prioritize and manage
your apps and cloud estate. With a Platform-as-a-Product approach, it’s easier to keep your
focus on the big picture.
Bringing It All Together
With almost 75% of businesses operating across multiple public clouds 5 , it’s become clear that
efforts to modernize need to be executed strategically. CIOs who’ve enjoyed success in this
area are realizing cost savings, revenue growth, and improved innovation. They have taken the
time to standardize functions across clouds, chosen the clouds that best meet the needs of
their apps, and operated unifying platforms that maintain seamless business control over
multiple cloud providers. They have also improved DevEx to make the best use of one of their
greatest assets: their Dev team.
For more ways to influence multi-cloud success, download the complete report:
CIO Essential Guidance: Modernizing Applications in a Multi-Cloud World
Cites
1. Forrester, An Executive’s Checklist To Fostering A Strong Developer Experience For Business Growth, June 2022.
2. VMware Executive Pulse, Enterprise Technology Executives. FY23 Q4.
3. 4 Strategic Insights on Multi-Cloud Management, Inc., August 2022.
4. VMware CIO Exchange, How Fiserv Unlocks Financial Services Innovation for Its Developers, December 2022.
5. The Power of “And” in the Multi-Cloud Era, Inc., July 2022.
