Service quality

The first consideration is what services the provider offers. You already have a good idea of what will be on the private side of the cloud (here’s the difference between public, private, and hybrid cloud). The cloud provider needs to work well with the software your business currently uses on-premise. Does it have the right services and APIs, or will your private cloud need extra software to interface with it? A provider that has worked with businesses similar to yours is often the best choice.

The SLA is all-important (check out our SLA!). You have to look at not just what promises it makes, but how it backs them up. If it offers substantial compensation for falling short, that indicates it takes its commitments seriously. In addition to its promised up-time, look at what the SLA guarantees at the business application level.

Migration issues

If you’re migrating from an entirely on-premises system to a hybrid cloud, you want the migration to happen quickly, with little or no loss of up time. Look at the migration tools which the service offers and determine how well they will work with your existing software.

You don’t want to be locked in to one provider. Its services and pricing could change, it could go out of business, or a better alternative might come along. Look for a provider that offers standardized services that you can easily migrate to another vendor. Open architectures such as OpenStack are growing in popularity and help to prevent lock-in.

Security

Moving to a hybrid cloud implies that you treat security seriously. Some of your functions just can’t go out on a public cloud. It can be difficult to find out about a provider’s security record, but you need to be confident it will keep your data safe. Look at the measures it takes, such as physically securing its data center and running the latest operating system versions.

Protection against physical data loss is part of the security picture. A service which keeps redundant data across geographic locations and does frequent backups provides the best protection.

The safety of the private part of your network depends on the interface between it and the public cloud. Make sure it doesn’t inadvertently open a backdoor to your private data.

Performance and cost

How important is performance to your business? Getting the very fastest service may not be cost-effective. Discovering that the service is too slow is just as bad. One important factor is location. The greater the distance to the cloud data center, the more latency you have to deal with. When consistent performance is critical and latency has to be kept to an absolute minimum, a service should stay on the private cloud.

Be sure you understand the pricing model. Are you being charged for processor usage, storage, transactions, or some combination? You need to know whether your budget will be sufficient for normal usage and how sensitive the cost will be to spikes. If you can afford slower retrieval times for some of your data, you may be able to save money by using a less expensive storage option.

Some services will require high performance levels while others can get by with less. Using a mix of cloud services can get consistently quick responses where they count without running up too high a bill.

Look at the monitoring tools which the service offers. You should be able to track your costs from day to day so that you don’t get taken by surprise.

The Bottom Line

Shop carefully when you’re looking to set up a hybrid cloud that will boost your business’s computational capacity, and be sure to talk to us.

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A hybrid cloud integrates public and private cloud environments through a common operating system that allows them to share resources. 

With the hybrid cloud model, a company can take advantage of the scalability and cost-effectiveness of the public cloud while leveraging the control and security of a private cloud environment.

Benefits of Hybrid Cloud

1. Better support for remote workforces

A properly implemented hybrid-cloud solution provides optimal access to remote workers via the public cloud while ensuring that core and sensitive data remain secure in the private cloud environment.

With the use of Virtual Desktops, there’s no need to worry about data loss because of failed hard drives or device theft as images reside in the cloud and can be accessed remotely from any end-point device.

2. Scalability

A hybrid cloud environment gives companies the ability to optimize performance and efficiency to meet changing business needs. Increasing computing power or adding infrastructure components, is just a click away. There’s no need to purchase, ship, receive, set up, and test new infrastructure.

This is especially beneficial to smaller companies who can scale to develop new products and services and access powerful analytical tools they may not otherwise be able to afford.

3. Reduced costs

The hybrid cloud is an excellent solution for companies that need to scale to meet demand while ensuring more security and control over their data.

Instead of storing all data in a private cloud or on-site environment, companies can store core business-critical and sensitive data within the private cloud while hosting less sensitive data in an inexpensive public cloud environment.

With a pay-as-you-go subscription model, companies can data and applications as needed while paying only for the public cloud resources used.

4. Improved security & risk management

In some industries, compliance and regulatory requirements prohibit storing certain types of data in the cloud. A hybrid cloud environment allows companies to retain control over mission-critical data and applications in the secure private cloud environment while spreading less sensitive workloads across the public cloud.

The private cloud environment can be customized to fit specific compliance regulations allowing you to choose where to store data based on compliance, policy, or security requirements.

5. Business continuity

Businesses want peace of mind that in the event of a disaster, they can continue serving customers and recover normal business operations in as little time as possible.

The hybrid cloud enables organizations to back up and secure business-critical data and applications to quickly recover from a failure, cyberattack, or natural disaster. If a disaster occurs, a business can switch to a fully remote model deploying virtual desktop solutions to remote workers and continue servicing customers without interruption.

By distributing services across the public and private cloud environment, companies can leverage maximum reliability to reduce potential downtime.

Things to Consider When Building a Hybrid Cloud Architecture

1. Is a “true” hybrid cloud architecture the right choice?

True hybrid cloud architecture integrates several public and private cloud environments using a common operating system. This solution is more suited to enterprises with high-volume workloads and distributed systems that can benefit from the speed and high-performance levels a true hybrid cloud solution provides.

An alternative method involves hosting a private cloud environment with a dedicated operating system that connects through the internet or a direct connection to the cloud service provider. Though not a purely hybrid solution, this setup is more than enough to meet the needs of most businesses.

2. Where will you locate workloads?

To determine where you will locate your workloads you’ll need to consider your application, accessibility, and compliance requirements. Do you need to balance user-friendliness with security needs? Do compliance requirements prohibit you from hosting certain types of data in the public cloud?

Also, consider that some legacy applications may not fully integrate with the cloud and may need workarounds. Before you build your hybrid cloud environment, consider where you want to locate your workloads. This ensures that the environments and the applications in them can integrate and run as smoothly as possible.

3. What cloud platforms will you need?

The cloud platform that you choose should handle your existing and your future business needs. Is a one-size-fits-all solution enough for your business, or do you need a more customized solution?

Building a hybrid cloud solution on a platform that can’t scale for future growth could turn into an enormous waste of time and money. Other factors to consider when choosing a cloud platform include cost, flexibility, redundancy, infrastructure, and security.

4. What kind of security will you need?

While current versions of public cloud solutions are more secure than their predecessors, they don’t offer the same level of protection as a private cloud environment. You’ll need to consider how these two environments will interact when designing your hybrid cloud strategy.

Will critical business data need to move between both environments? How will sensitive data be protected while in-transit? Cyber attacks are on the rise and security is an area where you do not want to compromise.

5. What cloud operating system will you use?

The hybrid cloud operating system you choose will depend on the specific needs of your organization, but basically, you’ll want to choose one that simplifies the management of the complex hybrid environment. Most cloud operating systems come with centralized interfaces that make it easy for IT support to automate tasks, allocate resources, and monitor the entire hybrid cloud environment with minimal training.

The operating system will allow you to monitor and manage the entire hybrid environment through a centralized interface that simplifies the combined environments. These tools have a short learning curve. Users can be trained to manage applications and data with limited training.

NewCloud Networks Hybrid Cloud Solutions

Hybrid-cloud solutions offer several significant benefits for your business, but choosing the right solution can be complex. At NewCloud Networks, our cloud experts can help you design a hybrid cloud solution that’s right for you. Contact us today.

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