The recent rise in cloud adoption rates means it’s more
important than over to discover which cloud computing model best fits your
organization. Cloud computing consultants are becoming a valuable resource as
businesses are searching for better solutions.
Hybrid clouds offer the combined benefits of public and
private cloud computing models in an environment designed to meet the specific
needs of your company. While this model offers flexibility and added benefits, cloud
computing consulting may help you to decide for yourself which cloud computing
model fits your unique needs.
A recent report on the hybrid cloud by SolarWinds IT Trends
shared these important factors:
·
62% of respondents said security is the biggest
challenge of managing current hybrid IT environments.
·
27% think their IT departments have adequate
resources to manage a hybrid IT environment.
·
56% say they have the level of support they need
from leadership and the overall organization to improve or develop skills to
manage hybrid environments better.
·
The top five skills needed to manage hybrid IT
environments are:
o
Distributed architectures
o
Service-oriented architectures
o
Application migration
o
Hybrid IT monitoring/management tools and
metrics
o
Automation and vendor management
These factors are valuable and align closely with our eight
factors for knowing if a hybrid cloud computing model is best for your
organization.
1.
Beginning
Investment – The investment for each deployment option can vary. On an
earlier blog, we offered a comprehensive financial comparison of public and
private cloud computing deployments. This included the expected ROI to better
understand how your initial IT investment will pay for itself over time.
2.
Length of
Data Storage – How long do you store data? Is your industry required to
store data for specific time periods?
3.
Data
Storage Space – How much data will you store in the cloud? Public clouds make
you pay per GB. With private cloud computing, you need to invest in your own
resources.
4.
Performance
– What needs do you have for your IT infrastructure and how well should it
be done? If cloud computing is a core, critical resource, your options should
be weighed accordingly.
5.
Confidentiality
and Security – Data security can vary across deployment options.
6.
Access
Patterns and Locations – Is your business global? This could determine
where to locate resources for best performance.
7.
In-House
Technical Resources – Are in-house technical resources available to manage
private cloud computing?
8.
Service
Level Agreements – How critical is “uptime” for your business? How could a
cloud outage affect your organization?
As with any IT decisions affecting the whole company, it’s
important to choose wisely. Cloud
computing consulting may be the answer you’re looking for. Work with cloud
computing consultants to make sure you choose the best solution for your
organization.
