With continuous growth in popularity and adoption of hybrid cloud, many companies are on the run to re-engineer their networking architecture. However, very few are well aware. We have witnessed that businesses lack the clarity and are unsure of what hybrid cloud strategy exactly means – let alone, creating, implementing and managing it. This article explains all you need to know about hybrid cloud computing so you can better evaluate and plan your next big leap.
Understanding Hybrid Cloud Strategy in Depth – What is Hybrid Cloud?
Speaking in the simplest terms, adopting a hybrid cloud strategy means, you decide which (information) goes where. This is a networking environment where you combine private and public cloud to enable application and data sharing over a wide channel.
A private cloud is built through a proprietary architecture which means, it is dedicated to catering to the needs of the organization (or, within the premises). Whereas, public cloud is an independent entity serving multiple organizations. Simply said, it gives access to customers over the internet.
| Private Cloud | Hybrid Cloud | Public Cloud |
| Used by an enterprise to run cloud servers within its private data center. | A blend of private cloud and public cloud environment with orchestration between the two approaches. | The third-party provider makes resources available to the public on the internet. |
| Red Hat, Microsoft, IBM | Google Cloud Platform, Amazon |
To form a hybrid cloud model, you would connect the private cloud with public cloud infrastructure. Hence, the organization will be able to orchestrate workloads across the two platforms. The public cloud acts as an extension of the private cloud and forms a single cloud model. Generally what happens is, businesses reserve the private cloud services for critical data or information while the processes that need to be mobile and scalable are operated via the public cloud.
A hybrid cloud model consists of:
- One or more private clouds linked to one or more public clouds
- Two or more interconnected private clouds
- Two or more interlinked public clouds
Hybrid Cloud Benefits – Getting the Best of Both Worlds
Several studies confirmed that organizations, especially IT professionals have already started transforming operations from late 2015. Business operations are more and more trending towards hybrid IT solutions.
We have discussed some major benefits to describe why you should switch your enterprise towards hybrid infrastructure.
Cost Saving
One of the paramount benefits of hybrid cloud approach involves saving high costs of transition. Spending a fortune on building a separate infrastructure to resist occasional bursts in system usage might not be the best idea. Instead, companies can outsource public cloud offerings and share some burden. Also, the cost is calculated on a pay-as-used basis. Hence, having spent lesser money on networking infrastructure, companies can dedicate funds on bigger, valuable and return-oriented projects that further result in growing the business. And one of those companies which are easily available on the internet is “Dataknox” which is well known for cloud migration service. They can easily help you in cost saving process as they provide a rack space for housing your server and get adequate security cover, 24/7 at one place.
Improved Security
Hybrid clouds also offer enhanced security of data and applications. Worldwide information technology reports confirm that service-provider environment users have suffered from lesser attacks compared to on-premise users.
Workflow Flexibility
Industries like retail, healthcare and finance that follow certain regulations of data storage are especially benefitted from this feature. As these companies cannot save such critical or private customer information on public cloud and still require access to certain applications or tools on public cloud, service providers are of great help. So, the hybrid model gives some flexibility to these companies to run public applications.
Decreased Latency
Latency refers to the time or length of delay between a request and service. When cloud servers are located close to the source of request, the query covers a shorter distance and latency is hence improved. Colocation service provider enables companies to store private cloud in a nearby location which speeds up operations.
In this rapidly evolving tech environment, employees have become more mobile and quick access to critical applications is a necessity. Gone are the days when all you would do is sit on your desk, update some spreadsheets, access a portal and read a few emails. Business operations are uninterrupted and 24/7 functional. With hybrid cloud computing strategies, companies compete effectively and take advantage of quick and easy accessibility.
Benefits of hybrid computing may outweigh the cons, but it is still important to look at the challenges to find the solution suitable to your business procedures.
Major Challenges of Hybrid Cloud – What Seems Like a Con May Be Solved with Efficient Decision Making
Working with multiple colocation service providers may lead to mismanagement or confusion as to which cloud environment is being deployed when. The company may also lose track of the cost and whether the model is coming from an outsourced provider or in-house team. So, having a hybrid cloud adds more tasks in your management bucket list. A strong coordination plan between your IT team and third-party can work wonders in this case.
Without proper management, billing optimization may become a nightmare. It is quite easy to lose control over your public cloud spending when you have more than one lines of businesses. Keeping a careful eye on cloud bills can solve the problems.
Final Verdict
A hybrid cloud can prove to be a game-changer for businesses. However, it is important to keep a keen eye on all the challenges, possibilities, risk factors and operations.
References
https://www.redhat.com/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-is-hybrid-cloud
https://www.itproportal.com/features/what-is-hybrid-cloud-everything-you-need-to-know/
About the author
DrritimanBoraah is the VP of Customer Engineering at Lavelle Networks, which offers a truly scalable SD-WAN solution. He firmly believes that no dream is too big if you truly believe in it. You can connect with him here.
