Cloud computing is finally beginning to really take off. It hasn’t seen the uptake that many people expected with rather a lot of individuals and organisations resistant to the concept. There is still some resistance, however more and more people are now warming to it. As is the case with other concepts, more will be expected of cloud computing as its popularity grows. The tech giants are already hard at work making sure we can get as much from cloud computing as possible.

As users look for more from the cloud, so the multicloud has arisen. The multicloud is basically using multiple cloud storage devices in a single architecture. This gives users more flexibility and removes their reliance on a single service, preventing them from becoming locked into any one provider. There are numerous other reasons for adopting a multicloud strategy and many organisations are doing just that.

Incompatibility

The multicloud is not without its drawbacks, however. One such drawback is that the different platforms are not compatible with each other. Interoperability is just not something that the platform developers had in mind. This can cause quite a few headaches for organisations as they would have to manage multiple applications across various platforms. It is enough of a headache to turn some organisations cold to the idea of the multicloud, encouraging them to stick to a single platform or to maybe not even use the cloud at all.

This is where Anthos comes in. Anthos is a multicloud enabling platform that has been developed by Google. What that basically means is that it will become far easier for users to use multiple applications over more than one cloud service provider. It is a problem that Google recognised some time ago and Anthos is their answer to the problem.

If an organisation runs an application in the Microsoft cloud, for example, Anthos means that they will now be able to run the same application in the Amazon cloud. Only minimal modifications for each cloud platform will be necessary. In essence, Anthos will make everything look and function in the same way regardless of which cloud service provider is being used.

A Universal Solution

Some have taken to likening Anthos to Linux which is so often used on servers and large-scale computing systems. One of the main benefits of Linux, and the reason why Anthos has been likened to it, is its ability to run on any hardware while using any software. These characteristics have helped to make Linux one of the most popular operating systems around, and it looks set to remain as such for the next couple of decades or so at least.

Anthos could be a gamechanger, and Google’s latest enterprise could be a cornerstone of cloud computing for decades to come. Other developers are likely to not be far away as well, so we can expect to see challengers to Anthos at some point in the future.