The hybrid cloud allows companies to scale their computing resources when they need them and avoids unnecessary investments in hardware and own infrastructure to handle short term peaks of services demands so that business can release local resources for more sensitive applications and data.
The hybrid cloud form is popular when it comes to storing highly sensitive data in a private cloud, while less sensitive data can be outsourced.
The benefit is that companies will only pay for resources when they need them instead of invest and maintain additional resources and hardware that remain idle when not used. The advantage of having the flexibility of temporary processing capacity needs is that it allows companies to allocate resources at a lower cost than if they use their own data center and IT infrastructure.
Not every workload demands the highest standard of encryption and security. Using the best combination of public cloud, private cloud and on premises applications makes the hybrid cloud to take all advantages of flexibility, scalability and cost efficiencies while keeping a low risk of data exposure and threat.
Using the hybrid cloud, companies can use the advantages of on premises data centers, the public and private cloud. For example for dynamic workloads, it is more useful using a easily scalable public cloud while for less volatile or sensitive data, a private cloud or a on premises data center is more useful. The different infrastructure models allow segregation of critical and less sensitive data. This means that companies can choose which data is better to run in a highly scalable public cloud and which data should be run in private cloud to ensure data security and keep sensitive data behind the companies’ firewall.
Another benefit is to test which infrastructure serves better and then increase the volume. For example, companies can put some of their workloads on a public cloud or on a private cloud and learn what works better for them. Then, based on the lessons learnt, they can expand their public or private cloud model as needed. This also gives flexibility for future needs as they might change, especially in unpredictable times as we face today.
A hybrid cloud approach optimizes the companies’ actual data management and it is not only about public cloud, private cloud, or on premises resources that are able to handle them. It is also about taking services out the cloud and redeploy them back on premises. Depending on the cloud service provider, this can be a difficult undertaking. However, the flexibility of the hybrid cloud is a major advantage as long as companies can bring private, public and on premises applications together. In fact, one of the major benefits to use the hybrid cloud relates to flexibility.
Conclusion
Companies deal with technologies they own and operate in their own data centers. They cannot just switch off their existing technologies and migrate to the public cloud, the integration requirements need to be considered such as integration with legacy, on premises and non-cloud systems, as well as business and legal (regulatory, data residency) requirements. Instead, companies use a combination of private and public clouds which operate as separate entities but are integrated in the hybrid cloud environment.
Whereas the hybrid cloud started with using public and private cloud in combination, companies now expect improvements in managing and integrating their IT landscapes between cloud and non-cloud (on premises) environments. Applications need to run everywhere and communicate perfectly between private and public clouds and on premises applications by using unified cloud and common data services. It’s basically to evaluate and benefit from the best of the public and private cloud worlds.
Hybrid comes with many forms. It is not just private and public cloud with on premises applications. Companies invest actively in hybrid cloud environments and containers to support flexibility with multiple hosting options that align better with business needs. Focus on hyper converged infrastructure, edge computing, API’s and container technologies continue in parallel.
The role of IT is changing towards a two way approach regarding the hybrid cloud. From an IT strategy perspective, the advantages of the cloud are more generic such as elasticity (consume resources on demand, provision services quickly, increase server utilization rates), cost benefits and new functionality through new technology that can be obtained quickly and easily. Another argument is a faster deployment and time to market.
Companies will only use cloud services that they trust. Before making a decision to move to the cloud, applications need to be checked for
- Which purpose?
- Is the application suitable for the cloud approach?
- Can we integrate different operating models?
- Can the application be used in different environments without changing the code?
- Can the application be integrated in heterogeneous technologies?
- Can we integrate different cloud services in different locations without facing legal risks?
- Can we avoid the cost trap by just replicating the application in the cloud?
- Can we avoid another cost trap when we share ownership with the vendor of an integrated set of capabilities?
- Does the application increase the complexity of the infrastructure?
- Shall we move individual workloads instead the full application to the cloud?
- What are the vendor lock-in and migration costs risks?
Therefore, the role of IT is not just about to keep systems running and updated but also to provide governance, an aligned sourcing strategy, support business and ensure applications operate properly because it became more complex through the segregation of on premises, public and private cloud applications and services.
IT should provide guidance for data management and data access, not only from an operating perspective but also towards development, applications and services.
Avoiding the cloud cost trap means that if there is no benefit from better functionality, elasticity and new technology, the cloud operation costs can become higher since more and more functions are pushed into the cloud without calculating opportunity costs. This does not apply to legacy and highly customized and industry specific applications where a lift and shift approach to the cloud may improve non-functional properties such as readability, complexity, maintainability and extensibility. In this case, the use of micro services and API’s should be considered to add business value and not just moving legacy applications to the cloud.
To gain the full benefit of the hybrid cloud, companies must put down the silo-thinking and building a culture of mixed teams allowing more IT know how in business and more business know how in IT.