Is Hybrid Cloud The Right IT Solution for Your Business?

As a business leader, you’re always looking for the right technology to help improve efficiency, reduce costs, and help your business grow and run efficiently.

Data storage and cybersecurity concerns are a few reasons driving many businesses to move to the cloud. But with so many options—especially when it comes to the cloud—you might be wondering, “Which cloud solution is the best fit for my business?”

Businesses are increasingly turning to hybrid cloud to help them save money, improve their organization’s overall performance and efficiency, meet compliance requirements, and strengthen their cybersecurity measures.

Some sought-after hybrid cloud services include: storage, network monitoring, emergency backups, cybersecurity, disaster recovery, and data analytics.

Related Article: On-Prem To Cloud Migration Strategies: 6 Steps For A Smooth Process

In this article, we’ll explore what a hybrid cloud architecture is and address why so many business are adopting one.

After reading this article, you’ll have a thorough understanding of the main pros and cons of a hybrid cloud environment. With this information, you’ll be able to decide if it’s the right fit for your business.

What Is Hybrid Cloud And How Can It Help My Business?

So, what exactly is hybrid cloud?

With a traditional on-premises IT infrastructure, all of a company’s data and IT computing are physically located and maintained in-house. Today, businesses have several choices when it comes to their IT environments.

There are three main types of cloud computing: public, private, and hybrid.

Private Cloud

A virtual private cloud (VPC) is essentially a company’s own personal slice of the public cloud that only its employees can access.

Rather than being on-prem, their resources are moved to a secure, private space hosted on a public cloud platform.

An advantage of this solution is that you can retain the sensitive data or IT systems you need in-house, while taking advantage of the many features available through public cloud services, such as storage, networking, and cloud servers.

Companies that handle highly sensitive data and want to retain control of that information might prefer this option for security reasons.

A private cloud solution could help these businesses satisfy regulatory compliance requirements with the flexibility to tailor their cloud environment and scale services to meet their changing business needs.

Public Cloud

Public cloud, on the other hand, is shared by many different businesses and can be accessed by anyone with an internet connection. Business use public cloud for its easy access, affordability, and flexibility.

One reason public cloud is so popular is because of the seemingly endless features that are available to choose from.

What’s more, you can choose the cloud provider pricing model that works best for your business, such as pay-as-you-go pricing. Paying for only what you need could reduce your IT infrastructure costs and save you money.

Public cloud is hosted by third-party vendors.

Although Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) are the three biggest players, there are more than 1,000 cloud service providers (CSPs) competing in the global cloud market.

Related Article: Which Is Better Azure Or AWS? How To Choose The Right Cloud Platform

Hybrid Cloud

Finally, hybrid cloud is an IT infrastructure that uses a combination of both private and public cloud services, along with an on-premises datacenter.

The main advantages of hybrid cloud are:

Flexibility

Scale up or down as needed, adapting to business or market changes without overpaying for unused resources.

Cost savings

Reduce expensive hardware investments, with less physical equipment to have to maintain and replace.

Streamlined operations

Improve performance, reliability, and security by running critical workloads where they make the most sense.

• Businesses can use hybrid cloud’s automated workload management to automatically move workloads between the different environments as needed. This improves business efficiency and reduces costs.
  
  
• A hybrid cloud setup offers the best of both worlds, allowing businesses to keep some of their data and operations in-house or secured separately with private cloud, while moving other networking functions to a public cloud platform.
  
  
• With hybrid cloud, you can pick and choose the services and customized features that are most beneficial to your business, and still keep access and control of your on-premises datacenter.

What Are Some Disadvantages to Hybrid Cloud?

While hybrid cloud offers many benefits to businesses across diverse industries, it may not be the right choice for everyone. What are some disadvantages to hybrid cloud?

• The main con to moving to a hybrid cloud architecture is the complexity of integrating it seamlessly into your existing IT environment. This could lead to increased migration costs.
  
  
• Besides cost and the complexity of the migration process, other key disadvantages to a hybrid cloud architecture are compatibility issues with existing technologies, business disruption, and potential security risks.
  
  
• For example, a business with legacy data or federal controlled unclassified information (CUI) might be unable to move their data to the cloud because of compliance issues, security risks, high migration costs, or critical workflow disruptions, among other reasons.

Related Article: How Zero Trust Can Streamline NIST & CMMC Compliance For Your Business

The Bottom Line With A Hybrid Cloud IT Infrastructure

After reading this article, you now have a better understanding of hybrid cloud and its pros and cons.

So, is hybrid cloud the right choice for your business? If you’re looking for a way to increase flexibility, scalability, reduce costs, and increase efficiency and productivity, then it just might be.

That being said, we know that every business is different.

If you have an in-house team of IT professionals, do they have the time and expertise to properly implement a hybrid cloud environment within your organization?

The complexity of hybrid cloud adoption requires careful advanced planning to ensure the safety of your data and systems.

If not done correctly, your hybrid cloud migration could open the door for potential security risks like data loss or a cyber incident, resulting in potential revenue loss, customer defections, compliance issues, and other consequences.

With a qualified managed IT service provider (MSP), you gain a team of experienced IT and cybersecurity professionals with broad industry knowledge who can ensure that your hybrid cloud strategy is deployed following best practices and within compliance guidelines.

If you still have questions or want to explore the best hybrid cloud strategy for your business, let’s talk. Click the button to reach out, and let’s find the right IT solution to help your business grow.