<s>
Multicloud	B-General_Concept
(	O
also	O
written	O
as	O
multi-cloud	O
or	O
multi	O
cloud	O
)	O
refers	O
to	O
a	O
company	O
utilizing	O
multiple	O
cloud	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
services	O
from	O
various	O
public	O
vendors	O
within	O
a	O
single	O
,	O
heterogeneous	O
architecture	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
a	O
typical	O
multicloud	B-General_Concept
architecture	O
utilizing	O
two	O
or	O
more	O
public	O
clouds	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
multiple	O
private	O
clouds	O
,	O
a	O
multicloud	B-General_Concept
environment	O
aims	O
to	O
eliminate	O
the	O
reliance	O
on	O
any	O
single	O
cloud	O
provider	O
and	O
thereby	O
alleviate	O
vendor	O
lock-in	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
instance	O
,	O
an	O
enterprise	O
may	O
use	O
separate	O
cloud	O
providers	O
for	O
infrastructure	O
(	O
IaaS	B-General_Concept
)	O
,	O
platform	O
(	O
PaaS	B-Application
)	O
,	O
software	O
(	O
SaaS	B-Architecture
)	O
and	O
container	O
(	O
FaaS	B-Application
)	O
services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
latter	O
case	O
,	O
they	O
may	O
use	O
different	O
infrastructure	O
providers	O
for	O
different	O
workloads	O
,	O
deploy	O
a	O
single	O
workload	O
load	O
balanced	O
across	O
multiple	O
providers	O
(	O
active-active	O
)	O
,	O
or	O
deploy	O
a	O
single	O
workload	O
on	O
one	O
provider	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
backup	B-Protocol
on	O
another	O
(	O
active-passive	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
several	O
advantages	O
to	O
using	O
a	O
multicloud	B-General_Concept
approach	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
negotiate	O
better	O
pricing	O
with	O
cloud	O
providers	O
,	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
quickly	O
switch	O
to	O
another	O
provider	O
if	O
needed	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
avoid	O
vendor	O
lock-in	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Multicloud	B-General_Concept
can	O
also	O
be	O
a	O
good	O
way	O
to	O
hedge	O
against	O
the	O
risks	O
of	O
obsolescence	O
,	O
as	O
it	O
allows	O
you	O
to	O
rely	O
on	O
multiple	O
vendors	O
and	O
open	O
standards	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
prolong	O
the	O
life	O
of	O
your	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additional	O
benefits	O
of	O
the	O
multicloud	B-General_Concept
architecture	O
include	O
adherence	O
to	O
local	O
policies	O
that	O
require	O
certain	O
data	O
to	O
be	O
physically	O
present	O
within	O
the	O
area/country	O
,	O
geographical	O
distribution	O
of	O
processing	O
requests	O
from	O
physically	O
closer	O
cloud	O
unit	O
which	O
in	O
turn	O
reduces	O
latency	O
and	O
protect	O
against	O
disasters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Various	O
issues	O
and	O
challenges	O
also	O
present	O
themselves	O
in	O
a	O
multicloud	B-General_Concept
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Multicloud	B-General_Concept
differs	O
from	O
hybrid	O
cloud	O
in	O
that	O
it	O
refers	O
to	O
multiple	O
cloud	B-Architecture
services	I-Architecture
from	O
different	O
vendors	O
rather	O
than	O
multiple	O
deployment	O
modes	O
(	O
on-premises	O
hardware	O
,	O
and	O
public	O
and	O
private	O
,	O
cloud	B-Architecture
hosting	I-Architecture
)	O
.	O
</s>
