Should more businesses be opting for hybrid cloud instead?

When public and hybrid cloud services were first made available, most businesses were still skeptical about their usage in the industry. But over time, the cloud has become a dominant feature for organizations. In today’s data-driven world, businesses that do not leverage the cloud and what it offers will be left behind.

Interestingly the journey to the cloud may sound simple but it can still be a complex one. There is the public cloud and the private cloud, but which cloud option works best for businesses? While the public cloud is known to be cheaper, especially with its pay-as-you-use model, there are concerns about the security of the public cloud.

Some businesses opt for a multi-cloud adoption as well. However, the problem with working with multi-cloud is converging them together and knowing which cloud works best for which workload. Leveraging on the multi-cloud does have its benefits but it also requires more employees and has security concerns.

Meanwhile, the private cloud offers more security for businesses as its on-premise. But the problem with the private cloud is that they tend to be costlier and may not offer the full flexibilities that are available on the public cloud.

With data protection laws and regulations becoming stricter, more businesses, especially those in regulated industries, need to use the private cloud to ensure their customer data is secured and well protected. However, some regulated industries like the financial and services industries (FSIs) want to be able to run more workloads on the public cloud as they continue to improve their services to their customers.

The hybrid cloud

Can businesses use both the public and private cloud? Yes, yes they can. This is where the hybrid cloud comes in. The hybrid cloud combines the private cloud with one or more public cloud services. Proprietary software enables both clouds to communicate and differentiate their services.

According to market insights by Quince, the global hybrid cloud market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 17.8% till 2028 from its value of US$ 50.1 billion in 2020. Businesses realize that they can combine the speed and efficiency of the private cloud for storage and primary workloads and use the cost-efficient public cloud for their other workloads.

Top cloud providers like IBM, AWS, Alibaba, Nutanix, and Dell now offer hybrid cloud solutions for businesses looking to leverage on the hybrid cloud. For organizations that are looking to use the hybrid cloud but are still not sure how there are also managed cloud services being offered by these vendors. Here are three key reasons why businesses are opting for the hybrid cloud.

1/ Flexibility and Agility

Speed is the essence for businesses today. Data needs to be processed fast and applications need to be stable. The hybrid cloud enables businesses to process and store data easily. Businesses can generate insights from data using analytic tools on the public cloud and then store the data as backup on their private cloud. Businesses will also have the flexibility of working anywhere and have secured access to data and workloads no matter where they reside.

For example, a contact centre. Remote working requires employees to work from home. A hybrid cloud model would allow the team to work on SaaS on the cloud while accessing private customer information on-premise.

2/ Security and compliance

FSIs want the flexibility of the public cloud. However, regulations and compliance do not allow sensitive data on the public cloud. With the hybrid cloud, sensitive data can be stored on-premises and readily accessible, while less sensitive data can be used for other workloads. Access to applications can also be controlled and restricted. Most importantly, all data on the cloud is encrypted no matter where it resides.

3/ Scalability

With data growing exponentially, scalability is a constant problem for most businesses. How much cloud infrastructure should they invest in? Do they have enough storage on the cloud on-premise? What workloads and applications are they going to run on the cloud? Are they able to scale up quickly when needed to?

The hybrid cloud allows businesses to integrate existing infrastructure and extend their capabilities to the cloud. Also, it avoids the large vendor lock-ins you may have with private cloud vendors. It prepares your business to be able to support your growth with minimal disruption.

The hybrid cloud is indeed the best option for businesses that are looking to grow their digital presence and capabilities and also try out new applications and workloads without interrupting their operations. At the end of the day, if you want faster insights, better business outcomes, secured cloud services, and data availability from anywhere, the hybrid cloud is the right choice.