Before we go to understand Hybrid Cloud. There was a time when organizations were just confined to private and onsite data centers for their data and computing operations. But now, cloud computing services and virtualization have made it possible for data and other assets to be located in public clouds that can be accessed from any location.
However, the ever changing data usage requirements and demands have forced businesses and their IT infrastructure to think from a different perspective that meets the varying needs. Just having an on-premises system won’t be enough for large organizations, therefore, moving some of the digital operations to the cloud has become a necessity.
For organizations that want to use features of both public and private cloud environments, hybrid cloud deployments can be useful. It is versatile and responsive, which is why hybrid clouds are becoming a popular solution for companies looking for giving their business the flexibility and responsiveness it needs for data deployment.
Let’s understand what ‘Hybrid Cloud’ is and how it can benefit your business.
What is Hybrid Cloud?
A hybrid cloud solution contains the benefits of both public and private cloud systems. This allows information sharing between on-premises systems and the cloud. Hybrid clouds include an on-premises data center, public cloud, and third-party or in-house private cloud. These different platforms are connected through WAN and are integrated through orchestration techniques that move workload between private and public cloud as per the computing needs. This helps organizations in orchestrating processes across multiple applications and provides better governance and control over IT systems.
Cloud Services help in saving costs, but their main objective is to support a fast-moving digital business revolution. Hybrid cloud offers agility; organizations nowadays are in constant need to adapt and change as per the market transformation, and therefore, hybrid cloud can help in gaining agility which is required for competitive benefit.
Benefits of Moving to Hybrid Cloud
The hybrid cloud offers the security benefits of a private cloud and the flexibility of a public cloud. It is more cost-effective as compared to the public cloud and it will allow you to keep control over your data while providing flexibility to employees to access their data from anywhere.
Hybrid cloud offers the following benefits to organizations to grow their popularity amongst large organizations around the globe:
1. Cost Control
A hybrid cloud may lead to some upfront costs, but in the long run, it can significantly lower IT costs. The objective that has made hybrid clouds more popular is their ability to reduce IT spending and lowering overall costs.
Organizations are very cautious about the workload and services that run in their private cloud. However, the private cloud is deployed using on-premises data center infrastructure which requires capital investment, equipment, and manpower, which leads to higher costs.
By storing sensitive data in a private cloud of a hybrid network, organizations can reduce the cost of migrating assets from one cloud provider to another. Hybrid clouds provide clarity on where the money goes; it makes it easier to divide IT consumption into capital and operational costs.
2. Avoid Vendor Lock-In
Organizations often face issues of getting locked in with a certain vendor, which happens when an organization becomes dependent on a single provider. Vendor lock-in makes it harder for organizations to switch or add another provider even if the cloud provider is not providing the solutions as per the organization’s needs.
Hybrid cloud allows organizations to take advantage of the cloud without worrying about getting stuck. It gives organizations the power to decide where they want to host their data and applications, and thus it helps in providing leverage and gaining control of their data.
3. Compliance
Organizations have to comply with industry standards subject to data security and privacy regulations. Many countries have also passed laws that require companies to store customers’ data in the same country from where it is collected. A hybrid cloud solution eliminates the organization’s need to build data centers in each country they operate in. They can simply store the locally collected data in public cloud regions that comply with data localization rules and protect their customers’ privacy as per law.
4. Performance
A hybrid cloud solution gives organizations the flexibility to support their remote work. With this, organizations can move their critical data to on-premises servers and other key applications and services to a public cloud. This allows users to access this data from anywhere with correct authorization and authentication. Employees who are working from remote locations, providing data flexibility and access from any location, can increase productivity and performance across the organization.
5. Increased Business Continuity
Accessing sensitive workloads through a private cloud and moving data to and from the public cloud, reduces the downtime, which ultimately ensures business continuity and reliability. Hybrid cloud offers backup of key data and quick and simple recovery in case of a failure.
In case of an on-site disaster, virtual machines can be used to run a copy of servers. Physical disasters such as flooding, or fire do not have any effect on virtual machines. In such scenarios, using hybrid clouds, companies can avoid downtime and ensure business continuity.
Summary on Hybrid Cloud
In simple words, if you are using a combination of on-premises computing, private clouds, and public clouds, you have a hybrid cloud infrastructure. A hybrid cloud is a great option if you are looking for something that provides the best of both private and public cloud solutions. It helps you to maintain control of your sensitive data and gives you the flexibility to scale your business operations effectively.
How Can XO Help?
XO Cloud Services offers a perfect combination of private, public, and hybrid cloud services and solutions for any business. If you are looking at making your business more flexible and scalable, XO has got it covered for you. Offering premium cloud services at affordable pricing, the team at XO helps you with:
- Easy Migrations—Switch to any cloud platform with ease
- Initial Setup—Building complete cloud infrastructure for you, including setting up cloud servers, databases, virtual networks, and file storage.
- Cloud Management—Managing your virtual cloud assets
- Security—24/7/365 protection for your cloud environments
- Audits—Reviewing your current cloud setup to offer cost reduction opportunities
Connect with us today to schedule a meeting.
