--- title: What is multi-cloud? description: Learn all about what is multi-cloud and all the other cloud, container, and Kubernetes terminology so that you can build the best business strategies. url: https://canonical.com/blog/what-is-multi-cloud --- 1. [Blog](https://canonical.com/blog) 2. Article --- [James Nunns](https://canonical.com/blog/author/jamesnunns "More about James Nunns") 11 September 2018 # What is multi-cloud? --- Share the article Tech companies, Canonical included, have a problem. That problem is living in buzzwords and jargon, and then assuming everyone knows what we are talking about. At Canonical we call them ‘Canonicalisms’, other companies have their own names for it. Whilst we can joke about it, this over-reliance on jargon is a genuine barrier to our audience, developers, customers, people in need of technical help, people in need of assistance in understanding what all these buzzwords are. The jargon is a barrier to people understand what something like the cloud is, in its many different guises, and how these different architectures and strategies can be used for tangible business benefits. Fortunately, that’s a problem which is solvable. Canonical has decided to produce a whitepaper that details everything you need to know to understand every type of cloud from public to private and managed to multi-cloud. But, we haven’t stopped there, because these technologies don’t live in a bubble, they’re connected to technologies such as Kubernetes, containers, serverless computing, servers and virtual machines. Still, understanding the basics about these different technologies is only a piece of the picture, which is why we’ve also included guidance on the best strategies to use, use cases, when and where to deploy and make it a success. We know that there is no one-size-fits-all type of cloud. Nor is the cloud necessarily the best option for hosting workloads in all situations, we also know that you don’t want to read another vendor specific take on the view of the world, which is why we’ve remained objective in the whitepaper – in true open source fashion. So, if you want to know what is public cloud or what is multi-cloud and clear away the jargon that’s stopping you from understanding everything you need to know about the cloud, containers, Kubernetes and more, then download this whitepaper. [Download whitepaper](https://www.ubuntu.com/engage/multi-cloud-guide?utm_source=blog&utm_campaign=FY19_Cloud_Openstack_Whitepaper_Multicloud) [Get in touch Interested in running Ubuntu in your organization?](https://ubuntu.com/about/contact-us/form) ## Sign up for our newsletter Get the latest Canonical news and updates in your inbox. Work email: \*I agree to receive information about Canonical's products and services. In submitting this form, I confirm that I have read and agree to [Canonical's Privacy Notice](https://canonical.com/legal/data-privacy/contact) and [Privacy Policy](https://canonical.com/legal/data-privacy). Sign up ## Share on --- ## Related posts [### AI infrastructure for telcos](https://canonical.com/blog/ai-infrastructure-for-telcos) Why moving from pilots to production changes the platform Artificial intelligence has moved beyond the demonstration phase. Telco operators are already exploring it for fault... [Benjamin Ryzman](https://canonical.com/blog/author/benjaminryzman) 2 October 2026 [### Canonical named a Challenger in the 2026 GartnerⓇ Magic Quadrant™ for Server Virtualization Platforms](https://canonical.com/blog/canonical-a-challenger-in-2026-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-server-virtualization-platforms) Canonical has been recognized as a Challenger in the 2026 GartnerⓇ Magic Quadrant™ for Server Virtualization Platforms. The inaugural edition of the report provides an... [Canonical](https://canonical.com/blog/author/canonical) 1 October 2026 [### Canonical announces the alpha release of Charmed OpenShell to help secure autonomous AI agent fleets](https://canonical.com/blog/charmed-openshell-alpha-release) To streamline enterprise deployment and lifecycle management, Canonical is announcing the alpha release of Charmed OpenShell. [Canonical](https://canonical.com/blog/author/canonical) 28 September 2026 [### Ubuntu coming soon to Snapdragon X2 Series platforms, unlocking more Linux PCs for the agentic world](https://canonical.com/blog/ubuntu-coming-soon-to-qualcomm-snapdragon-x2-series-platforms) Canonical and Qualcomm Technologies announce upcoming native Ubuntu support for Qualcomm’s flagship laptop silicon, delivering multi-day battery life, 80 TOPS NPU acceleration,... [Canonical](https://canonical.com/blog/author/canonical) 23 September 2026