Your Guide to Hybrid Cloud Strategy
If you're planning on joining the 80% of organizations that have employed a hybrid cloud model as of 2022, you can't leave strategy on the back burner. We'll take you through the challenges, advantages, and pieces of a hybrid cloud strategy.
What is a Hybrid Cloud Strategy?
A hybrid cloud strategy is when organizations use multiple cloud types in one environment. The most common example of a hybrid cloud strategy is to use a mix of public cloud, private cloud, and on-premises infrastructure. The adoption of hybrid cloud has grown in recent years because of its flexibility and perfect fit for organizations working on digital transformation.
Hybrid cloud helps businesses reach their digital transformation goals by moving their legacy workloads to a more flexible, scalable environment, while also making it easier in the future to keep things up to date.
You may have also heard the term "multicloud," which is different from a hybrid cloud - it's a narrower category that only includes multiple public cloud environments, not private cloud or on-premises. About 89% of organizations have adopted a multicloud strategy as of 2022. The main public cloud platforms that would be included in hybrid or multicloud are Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Google Cloud Platform.
Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure
Put simply, hybrid cloud architecture combines public and private clouds through a wide area network or broadband connection. Applications, workloads, and data can be shared and managed as a single IT infrastructure. With hybrid cloud, you can use the same tools and skill sets in different environments, add and remove resources on demand, and enjoy access to public cloud services, including databases, data analytics services, and emerging technologies of AI and ML. A successful hybrid cloud strategy leverages existing on-premises infrastructure and allows IT leaders to match workload-specific requirements to appropriate environments.
of organizations say their organization sees a hybrid cloud infrastructure strategy as a permanent solution, as opposed to a steppingstone toward a complete move to the cloud. Source
of organizations agree that a hybrid cloud environment can store and move data and workloads easily and securely. Source
Cloud Platforms Within The Hybrid Cloud
Public cloud
Also known as hyperscale, public cloud can help organizations scale their infrastructure without paying for physical equipment, facilities, and utilities. AWS, GCP, and Microsoft Azure are all public cloud platforms.
Private cloud
With private cloud infrastructure, resources are owned by the business, instead of rented. While there are more opportunities for customization, private cloud also comes with a higher price tag.
What Does a Hybrid Cloud Strategy Entail?
Many companies are turning to a hybrid cloud strategy to drive innovation and improve their in-house digital transformation projects. To keep up with this trend, companies are searching for effective and affordable strategies for migrating to the cloud. However, creating a comprehensive plan for cloud migration can be challenging, as there are many factors to consider. Here is what you should consider.
Disaster recovery plans will differ based on your geography and potential vulnerabilities from natural disasters, human error, or cybercrime. The more detailed you can make your disaster recovery plan, the better you will be able to keep business moving even if something interrupts it.
Advantages of Hybrid Cloud
One of the advantages of a hybrid cloud strategy is having a flexible infrastructure and ability to customize it when needed. However, the core benefits to hybrid cloud include the following:
Challenges to overcome with a Hybrid Cloud Strategy
Challenges arise with a hybrid cloud strategy from both directions. Businesses may experience a challenge that motivates them to adopt hybrid cloud infrastructure. There may also be perceived disadvantages of migrating to a hybrid cloud environment.
Effective Hybrid Cloud Management
To effectively manage your hybrid cloud environment, you do need to have a firm grasp on what needs to be managed, what security and governance measures might come into play, and what service level agreements you have with your end users.
Before deploying a hybrid cloud environment, you should be able to take stock of everything that will run where, as well as their business purposes. Businesses also need to be able to actively work on improving the level of offered security to meet the requirements for customers and internal leaders. Finally, don't go into a deployment without understanding the promises that have been made to end users via Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and what you need to do to hold up your end of things.
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