Which Hybrid Cloud Model is Best for Your Business?

If you are looking for more control, improved security, predictable SLA’s and lower IT costs, adopting a hybrid cloud model for your business may be what you need. The hybrid cloud provides the flexibility and scalability of cloud services while using the security and control of the on-prem private cloud.

To start with a hybrid cloud, you need the best foundation possible; highly skilled solutions integrators and managed services providers (MSPs) can build these solutions. Unlike a standard Partner or MSP, Coretek also provides consulting services to plan your approach to hybrid cloud adoption. Consulting partners understand your industry, unique business model, operating preferences, and cost structure; this is critical to architecting the right solution, in the right way, at the beginning. Learn what a hybrid cloud is in our blog here. 

What are the Different Cloud Adoption Models?

There are three main types of cloud adoption models. Understanding the differences will help you decide which is right for your business. 

Fully in the Cloud (Azure Public Cloud) 

An all-in cloud strategy is very appealing for organizations with a blank slate and no legacy applications or data models to work around. Business processes, applications, and data collection can be initially designed and built in the cloud, with no retooling or rearchitecting needed. Businesses that own legacy apps and processes and are considering an all-in strategy must be prepared to reimagine and rearchitect their business from end to end.

Software-Defined Datacenter (SDDC) 

Organizations with large data centers and significant brick and mortar investments may opt for an SDDC, a physical data storage facility that performs like a private cloud by virtualizing networking, storage, CPU, and security resources. An SDDC operationalizes a traditional data center into a cloud-like operations center by extending physical servers into hybrid cloud datacenters with more capacity, programable efficiencies, and centralized management and security through the power of software, AI, ML, and automation.

True Hybrid Model 

A true hybrid model embraces legacy infrastructure and cloud enablement, moving only those workloads suited to a cloud environment. There is no one size fits for hybrid cloud enablement. Each business must define its own strategy based on business apps, data and security needs, and scalability. 

A knowledgeable partner like Coretek can help you define which model is best for you and create a plan to ensure that it is architected, designed, and built to meet your unique business needs.

What kind of industries benefit from using hybrid cloud? 

Cloud computing technologies have grown significantly over the past several years for many reasons, including the rise in Big Data, the growth of e-Commerce, and the need for an increasingly remote workforce. Retail and social industries are leading the way with cloud enablement. In contrast, healthcare, government, and insurance industries are the expected laggards due to their businesses' compliance, security, and regulatory nature.

These trailing businesses are also typically burdened with legacy, on-prem applications and slow to change internal processes, making them ideal for adopting a hybrid cloud model.

Hybrid Cloud Provides

More Control

IT team controls their infrastructure, selecting only those workloads best suited to the cloud, leaving the legacy and critical data on-prem. All-access data and infrastructure continue to be managed and monitored by internal experts instead of a third party, and there is no risk of vendor lock-in.

Scalability

IT teams have the flexibility, automation, and adaptability to respond quickly to business growth and decline needs.

Lower IT Costs

Identifying and managing critical business apps and data in private clouds helps businesses avoid the need to transfer data to providers.

Healthcare Use Cases for Hybrid Cloud

Disaster Recovery

The data collected in healthcare isn’t just about apps; it’s about people’s lives. Losing access to medical records, progress notes, and treatment plans because of a fire, outage, or another disaster is not an option. Hybrid clouds allow data to be replicated in multiple cloud locations for faster return to service times.

Business Continuity

Guaranteed availability and up-time are imperative to hospitals, emergency rooms, and other facilities with 24x7x365 patient access. Critical applications and data must include redundant and failover processes and the hybrid cloud delivers a cost-effective approach.

Archival Storage

HIPAA, CMS, and federal entities have strict data retention policies regarding healthcare and patient data. Adopting a hybrid approach reduces overall storage costs while supplying access to traditional on-prem and legacy applications without costly redesigns.

Enterprise Organizations

Enterprise organizations tackling business transformation challenges are looking to the hybrid cloud to get the best of both worlds. They need the flexibility of the cloud with the practicality of on-prem infrastructure for crucial business processes and legacy apps and data. Companies experiencing significant growth through mergers and acquisitions appreciate the scalability, flexibility, and automation for onboarding new environments.

What to Consider When Choosing Hybrid

Security

A hybrid cloud introduces added complexity by moving only specific workloads into the cloud. This transitions business flexibility and agility and increases complexity as data, apps, and tools are distributed across platforms. IT security teams must reassess and update current monitoring and observational tools to ensure they have insight into vulnerabilities and potential blind spots across all cloud platforms. Partnering with an expert to help them navigate security pitfalls can make the journey smoother.

Data Protection

Organizations must consider end-to-end strategies when it comes to data protection with hybrid cloud implementations. Businesses must always secure critical data as it traverses across multiple platforms, apps, and systems.    

Automation

The hybrid cloud offers automation tools for app delivery and development, testing and QU, and monitoring and reporting. Streamlined development environments across platforms improve the developer experience resulting in faster time-to-market, customer response, and innovation.

Capital Expenditure vs. Operational Expenditure

Organizations should expect lower capital costs with a Hybrid Cloud solution and reduced operational costs and complexities for delivering cloud-native applications.