There’s a concept in the IT world called a hybrid cloud. If you don’t work in IT, you probably won’t understand its significance.
However, many companies use it these days, and those that don’t might consider it at some point in the not-too-distance future.
According to a recent survey, 44% of IT decision-makers acknowledge cloud migration’s importance, and cloud migration and the hybrid cloud concept go hand in hand. If you’re someone who’s running a company, you should understand the basics behind these concepts. You probably don’t need to have the same expertise as someone in your IT department, but you should at least know what workers from this department mean when they bring up these terms.
What Does the Term “Hybrid Cloud” Mean?
Let’s imagine that you’re a company owner or a CEO. You go to visit your IT department, and someone brings up the term “hybrid cloud.” You ask them to explain it.
They will probably tell you that hybrid cloud means a type of computing environment. More specifically, it’s one where you’re using a partial public cloud, and a partial private one.
That brings up the further question of what “the cloud” means. You can regard the cloud as a network of remote servers. Maybe they’re virtual, but perhaps they’re physical.
They store and manage data. They can also store and manage services and applications. You can access them over the internet. The cloud exists mostly so that individuals or companies can access various resources without needing to manage any physical hardware.
If you have a hybrid cloud setup, that means you have a computing environment set up for your company that lets you store data and run applications partially with on-premises data centers and edge locations. A user can manage and migrate workloads between these environments. Users can both take advantage of public cloud services and also use some on-premises ones.
What Does Hybrid Cloud Adoption Mean?
If you talk to your IT department about how to optimize the budget that you are giving them or how to modernize for the present and future, they might mention that they want to go to a hybrid cloud model. Hybrid cloud adoption simply means going from a strictly private or public cloud to the type of hybrid model that we have described.
This switchover process might seem relatively simple if you have a small company that does not need very many IT resources. If you operate an enormous company, though, it makes sense that this conversion process will take more time and effort.
However, if you have a capable IT staff that knows about this kind of technology and functionality, then it’s absolutely within your power to do. The question becomes whether it’s cost-effective and useful to do so.
How Does Cloud Migration Intersect with the Hybrid Cloud Concept?
Earlier, we mentioned cloud migration. Cloud migration means moving your company’s digital assets. This might include various IT resources, data, and so forth. A larger or more complex company presumably has more digital assets.
Once you start to understand what we mean when we use the terms cloud migration and hybrid cloud, you will see how they have a certain similarity. As someone not in the IT field, though, you might still feel a little unclear about how they intersect.
Cloud migration and the hybrid cloud concept intersect because hybrid cloud migration involves the strategic movement of your company’s workloads into the cloud. When you do this, you might still keep some on your premises. Remember, that’s part of what goes into the hybrid cloud model.
When you do this, then ideally, you’re utilizing your resources meeting your specific business needs in a way that’s practical, streamlined, and cost-effective. As a business owner, if you want to stay solvent and competitive with other companies in your niche, you want all of those things.
Why Consider Adopting the Hybrid Cloud for Your Business?
There’s a main takeaway that you’ll want to get from the hybrid cloud and cloud migration concepts as a business owner. If you have a hybrid cloud, and you have implemented cloud migration, you should end up with a setup where you can access and modify your applications and data across multiple online environments.
Think of it in this way. Maybe you have a company that offers not physical products, but digital services. You have employees working for your business entity, but they’re not doing so from a strictly centralized location. Perhaps you have physical office space somewhere like New York or London, but you also have a larger workforce scattered across the globe.
That kind of business model makes a lot more sense in the modern era. You can have physical offices that act like your company’s nerve center, but then you’ll have other employees with the expertise you need in various areas who work from home. By offering them that ability, you can attract some of the world’s top talent.
If you agree to set up a hybrid cloud model, you can access some of your physical IT-related resources at your central office. For instance, maybe you have the majority of your servers there. However, you also have digital resources in the cloud.
Now, you have a setup where individuals from your workforce at your central office location can access certain IT resources, while your work-from-home team uses other ones. You’re now set up with an eye on streamlining your IT.
This structure should work better for you in the areas of project speed, overall cost, control, security, and scalability. These all fall into the larger category of IT and how best to operate your related resources.
In short, while having a hybrid cloud setup won’t make sense for every company or business entity, it’s something that you will definitely want to consider, especially if you operate within certain niches or industries. If you’re uncertain whether you need it, talk to your IT department.