UK Multi‑Cloud Strategy: AWS, Azure & Beyond

Regulators have raised concerns about the UK cloud market. Ofcom found that two hyperscalers account for most UK IaaS/PaaS usage. The Competition and Markets Authority has warned that limited competition could increase costs and reduce choice.

Why Multi-Cloud Matters Now

• Concentration risk: Two hyperscalers hold most UK IaaS/PaaS usage, so buyers plan for portability and leverage.^[2]
• Adoption trend: Multi-cloud use is nearly universal, 89% of enterprises are already using multiple clouds.^[1]
• Cost reality: Managing cloud spend remains the top challenge for 84% of organisations. Cost-efficiency is the primary metric for success, rising to 87%, and “cost avoidance” jumped from 28% to 64% YoY.^[4]

The Current UK Landscape

• AWS: broad services, mature ecosystem, strong SMB use (53%).^[5]
• Microsoft Azure: strong fit for enterprise estates – enterprises now edge ahead (Azure leading among large orgs).^[5]
• Other providers: used for specialist workloads, colocation, or UK/sovereign hosting to meet data residency needs.

Takeaway

No single provider suits every workload. Matching systems to the right platform improves resilience, cost efficiency, and strategic flexibility.

Key Challenges

1) Interoperability and portability

Moving workloads between AWS and Azure is difficult without the right foundations. Differences in networking, IAM and service APIs can create delays and extra work.

2) Security and compliance

Multiple environments mean more security postures, audit trails and controls. Standards such as ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus apply across all platforms.

3) Cost management

Managing cloud spend tops the challenge list for 84% of organisations. While focus on cost optimisation grows (87% use it as a primary metric), waste still matters – “cost avoidance” leap to 64%.^[4]

Blueprint for a UK Multi-Cloud Setup

1) Build for portability

• Use containerisation, Infrastructure as Code (Terraform) and automation (Ansible) to avoid lock-in.
• Have exit plans for proprietary services; backups, replication, schema portability.

2) Connect with low latency

• Use AWS Direct Connect and Azure ExpressRoute for private, dependable links.
• Standardise identity and access across environments with a central provider.

3) Unify monitoring and security

• Aggregate logs, metrics and traces into a single monitoring platform.
• Consolidate alerts in one SIEM, with consistent controls across clouds.

4) Manage cost and flexibility

• Tag resources for clear cost allocation.
• Balance commitments with flexibility to maximise vendor negotiation.
• Continuously review usage for rightsizing and efficiency.

5) Leverage managed service provider experience

• With 60% of organisations now using managed service providers for cloud management, partnering with Pipe Ten brings proven AWS, Azure and hybrid expertise.^[6]
• That expertise accelerates deployments, avoids common mistakes, and ensures architecture is optimised for resilience, performance, security and compliance.

Reference Patterns

• Workload split: transactions on AWS, analytics on Azure, connected with private links and scheduled data exchange.
• Active/warm standby: keep a warm standby in a second cloud, test failover regularly to protect RTO/RPO.
• Regulatory split: host sensitive data where compliance is strongest; optimise other workloads for cost and performance.

Get Started

Multi-cloud is now a practical choice for resilience, agility and governance in the UK. The key is an intentional design: build for portability, connect reliably, centralise security and monitoring, and manage cost without losing flexibility.

Start today by booking a FREE Multi-Cloud Consultation with our technical team or downloading our Web Application Delivery Framework.

Resilient is a key step in becoming SAFER.