Private cloud, hybrid cloud, and multi-cloud strategies
1. Private cloud, hybrid cloud, and multi-cloud strategies
It's not always possible, or necessary, for an organization to rely solely on the cloud. For example, requirements might call for on-premises infrastructure to work with public cloud services provided by companies, like Google Cloud. With the availability of different cloud options and configurations, it’s important to understand what each means. Let’s explore the definitions of private, hybrid, and multi-cloud, and when an organization might choose each approach. Let’s begin with private cloud, which is when an organization has virtualized servers in its own data centers, or those of a private cloud provider, to create its own private dedicated environment. On-premises servers are also often referred to as private clouds, but generally the distinction can be made that on-premises software runs in a local environment, whereas a private cloud is accessed through the internet. Private cloud computing gives an organization many of the benefits of a public cloud — including self-service, scalability, and elasticity — with more customization available than from dedicated on-premises infrastructure. This approach is often used when an organization has already made significant infrastructure investments, or if, for regulatory reasons, data must be kept on-premises. In contrast, a hybrid cloud is one in which applications are running in a combination of different environments. The most common example is combining a private and public cloud environment, like an on-premises data center, and a public cloud computing environment like Google Cloud. Finally, there’s multicloud, which describes architectures that combine at least two public cloud providers, such as Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, or others. An organization might choose multicloud if they want to take advantage of the key strengths of different public cloud providers. Organizations may also operate a combination of on-premises and multiple public cloud environments, effectively being both hybrid and multicloud simultaneously. A hybrid cloud approach is one of the most common infrastructure setups today because organizations can continue to use their on-premises servers while also taking advantage of public cloud. According to Gartner, 81% of organizations are working with two or more public cloud providers. Additionally, a Flexera State of the Cloud report showed 93% of enterprises have a multicloud strategy. So, what is a hybrid or multicloud strategy used for? Let's explore some different business requirements, drivers, and use cases that lead an organization to choose this kind of approach. Access to the latest technologies: Running workloads in multiple clouds empowers organizations to leverage the latest innovations and capabilities from each cloud provider, thus taking a best-in-class approach to cloud features and obtaining the scale, security, and agility to innovate fast. Cloud can help organizations build out capabilities, such as advanced analytics services, that might be difficult or impossible to implement in existing environments. Modernize at the right pace: With a hybrid cloud, organizations can migrate applications to the cloud at the pace that makes sense for their business and transform their technical infrastructure over time. Improved return on investment: By adding a public cloud provider to their existing on-premises infrastructure, organizations can expand their cloud computing capacity without increasing their data center expenses. This can help reduce CapEx or general IT spending and improve transparency regarding costs and resource consumption. Flexibility through choice of tools: Hybrid and multi-cloud strategies have advantages for organizations as a whole, but specifically benefit development teams that are working on different projects and tackling unique challenges across different lines of business. A wider choice of tools and developer talent can be applied to a particular business problem, which means responding better to changing market demands. It also avoids vendor lock-in concerns. Improve reliability and resiliency: Organizations can distribute core workloads across multiple cloud and on-premises infrastructures to reduce downtime and concerns about over-dependence on a single source of failure. This approach can improve the quality and availability of a service. Maintain regulatory compliance: Many industries have rules from governmental or regulatory bodies regarding where their app can operate. Adopting a hybrid solution is an effective way for an organization to ensure compliance with regional data governance, residency, or digital sovereignty requirements. Running apps on-premises: Organizations may have regulated applications that must remain on-premises or mainframe systems that are difficult to move to the cloud. A hybrid approach provides the freedom to innovate while still meeting these requirements. And finally, running apps at remote edge locations: Organizations in industries that run distributed apps at remote locations, such as kiosks in retail or networks in telecom, can benefit from hybrid cloud. These apps often require improved performance and low latency, and a hybrid approach lets them run select apps at the network edge.2. Let's practice!
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