In the past few years, cloud computing has gained a great deal of popularity in the IT industry. No wonder it has flawlessly taken over traditional computing processes, and now a better part of the world is relying on cloud technology. As of 2018, companies allocated 30% of their IT budget to cloud computing, and the average spending in the same area was reported to be $2.2 million in the same year. The stated figure was not more than $1.62 million in 2016, and this clearly indicates the quick expansion of cloud technology. Right now, around 90% of the companies are relying on cloud technologies for all the right reasons. The increased need for cloud computing has also lead to an increase in IT training in cloud certifications.
Why Companies Need Cloud Computing?
Reduced Costs
Traditional computing methods covered a significant portion of a company's expenses. Traditional techniques required you to invest in proper equipment and trained personnel to manage the hardware. This, indeed, increased the company's costs and responsibilities. However, as cloud computing emerged, companies were allowed to reduce costs as the requirement for technicians and expensive hardware almost ended. Companies relying on cloud technologies only have to pay for the services, and the rest is the service provider's job.
Flexibility
Many consider this to be one of the best advantages of cloud computing. This is because technology has enabled the world to work from any location as the devices are connected to the internet. Whether you want to work from home or office, it is no big deal with cloud computing. This is also cost-saving because you can allow some of the employees to work from home and remove a few workstations in the office.
Scalability
Traditional computing techniques do not give freedom to scale up or down according to the requirements. Companies using cloud technologies can get the services according to their usage and sign up for additional storage if the need arises. It does not take more than a few minutes for the service provider to upgrade the current package.
Strong Data Security
The data breach is often easier when using physical equipment for storage purposes. Fortunately, companies can choose to delete or move any data to a different folder for the sake of security. The information can be managed however you like, without the fear of data leaking out. The data stored on the cloud is rather tricky to breach, and this, of course, is an added benefit of the cloud.
When we talk about cloud computing, it is divided into three major categories:
- Private: Used by only one organization.
- Public: Used by anyone and available for the public.
- Hybrid: Blend of private and public cloud services.
Out of all these, the article sheds light on hybrid cloud strategies and how companies are taking full advantage of this specific cloud strategy.
What is Hybrid Cloud?
In a hybrid cloud strategy, a company's internal cloud services and third-party cloud services are combined together to run the operations in a much more flexible way. A research from 2019 shows that hybrid cloud strategy was the go-to choice for 45% of the companies (Source). The reason why so many of the companies are choosing this strategy is that it makes the systems a lot more flexible. Apart from flexibility, it is also believed to enable the companies to reduce costs and bring efficiency into business operations. The stated goals are somehow difficult to achieve with private or public cloud alone.
Hybrid cloud is proven to be highly effective for operating sensitive and simple applications simultaneously. For critical applications, companies rely on private cloud infrastructure, and public cloud is used for simpler systems. This allows the companies to perfectly streamline their workload.
Hybrid Cloud Use Cases
SaaS Integration
Hybrid cloud allows organizations to connect Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications from the public cloud to the existing private cloud, public cloud, and traditional applications.
Data and AI Integration
Companies are now mixing new data sources on the public cloud with the existing data and analytics and AI capabilities.
Enhancing Legacy Apps
While many applications are being run on internal clouds, many companies use the public cloud to improve the user experience.
VMware Migration
Some organizations shift their data from private cloud to public cloud without any modification or conversion to relieve their internal cloud from the load.
Why Hybrid Cloud?
Flexibility is just one reason which compels many companies to opt for a hybrid cloud strategy. There are many more advantages, like the following:
Security
Hybrid cloud keeps all types of data secure. As we discussed earlier in the text, it gives you the liberty to keep the sensitive information in the private cloud and the rest in the public cloud. This also means you have more control over your data.
Scalability
The element of unforeseen circumstances cannot be eliminated when running a company. As the company expands, the chances of running out of space in the private cloud also increase. In this scenario, purchasing additional storage on public cloud helps if you are using the hybrid cloud strategy. You can scale up and down without paying huge sums of money.
Speed
Using a hybrid cloud minimizes latency and speeds up the business processes. The strategy also takes advantage of edge computing infrastructures to enhance the speed. Businesses that rely on hybrid strategy experience efficiency and high productivity levels. However, it is still not as fast a fully public cloud or a multi-cloud strategy.
Conclusion
Although a hybrid cloud approach may seem complicated to some, it is still safer than relying on a single cloud model. Dividing the data and workload according to size and nature is less prone to damage and hacks. It is ideal for adding sensitive data in the private cloud, and the less important in the public cloud. Individuals who go through ITIL foundation certification training or cloud computing training and certification are given a full explanation of the whole idea of hybrid cloud computing.
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