Based on Cisco’s 2022 Global Hybrid Cloud Trends Report, which surveyed 2500 IT decision-makers in 13 countries, 82% of IT leaders have adopted the hybrid cloud. However, the same survey also found that when deploying a hybrid cloud, the top 3 challenges are:

1. Security (37%)
2. Increased operational complexity and cost management (33%)
3. Compliance and privacy (31%)

What are Some Hybrid Cloud Best Practices?

To address the challenges mentioned in the previous section, businesses can implement a set of best practices to optimize their hybrid cloud deployment and mitigate potential risks. These are some of those best practices: 

Evaluate your needs and requirements

Evaluating your company’s needs and requirements ensures that your hybrid cloud deployment is tailored to your specific needs while avoiding unnecessary costs. This involves assessing storage needs, computing power, and network bandwidth. However, it’s important to note that this evaluation is an ongoing process. Regularly tracking resource usage and evolving needs allows you to optimize resource utilization and prevent unexpected costs. 

Additionally, consult with your provider to see if they allow you to pay only for what you use, or provide bundled service packages that can help you save money and avoid overspending. 

Check the hybrid cloud provider’s SLA

A provider’s Service Level Agreement outlines the provider’s guarantees regarding uptime, performance, availability, support, and security. Thus, before choosing a hybrid cloud provider, make sure that you review and understand their SLAs. By making sure that the SLA aligns with your organization’s requirements, you can minimize the risk of downtime and ensure business continuity.  

Implementing security measures

Security is a crucial best practice for hybrid cloud usage as you want to make sure all private information related to your business is kept confidential. Implementing security measures in your cloud environment can be done through encryption strategies, managing access controls, and regularly patching and updating your systems. Moreover, you should also continuously monitor your systems for potential security threats and make disaster recovery plans for your business, so that you can respond to any security issues quickly. It’s recommended to consult with your provider to see if they can help you with implementing these security measures so you don’t have to manage all that on your own.  

Who should use a hybrid cloud?

Small medium businesses (SMBs) 

Hybrid cloud is the perfect solution for small-medium businesses as it allows them to store their sensitive data securely in a private cloud while still utilizing the public cloud for scalable and cost-efficient resources. This ensures that the business has optimal website performance and delivers an excellent and secure customer experience. 

Software developers

Hybrid cloud provides software developers with an affordable and flexible platform to build, test, and deploy applications quickly and efficiently. Developers can still keep their sensitive data on the private cloud while using budget-friendly resources from the public cloud for development and testing needs. 

Regulatory-driven businesses

Hybrid cloud allow businesses that have strict compliance requirements to maintain control over sensitive information by safely storing them in the private cloud while still enjoying the scalability and cost benefits of public cloud services. This is so they can comply with regulatory standards and ensure data privacy and security, while still saving some costs.  

Media and entertainment industry

Businesses in the media and entertainment industry has to deal with large files that require big-sized storage. This includes high-resolution video, images, and graphics. Using the this type of cloud can help them store and process those data cost-effectively. They can also use the public cloud resources for their content distribution and streaming while safely storing their valuable assets and information on the private cloud. This helps them to ensure a smooth content delivery while maintaining the protection of intellectual property. 

Educational institutions and research organizations

Hybrid cloud can help educational institutions and research organizations as they allow them to keep their students and research data secure on the private cloud while taking advantage of the public cloud for hosting online courses and learning platforms. This way, they can enjoy easy and convenient access to resources, while still keeping their sensitive data private.  

Overall, a hybrid cloud is a perfect solution for organizations or individuals who want flexibility, scalability, affordability, and secure data management by combining private and public cloud environments to meet their specific needs.

Click here to learn more about how Hybrid Cloud works. 

The post Hybrid Cloud Best Practices appeared first on Wowrack Blog.

IT infrastructure has evolved extremely quickly with the growing innovation and utilization of cloud computing – however, it’s mainly the adaptation of such technology that is taking off; the infrastructure has been around for a while now. Within that realm, a unique cross between public and private cloud has emerged as a rising star, and one of Wowrack’s 2019 predictions is that hybrid cloud computing will soon overtake as one of the prominent and most flexible implementations.

A survey of over 1000 people, about 47% of which employed within small or medium-sized businesses, reported an overarching adaptation of Hybrid cloud utilization within a multi-cloud infrastructure – a function of adding private cloud resources to their current cloud strategy:

Hybrid cloud computing, or a unique blend of benefits from both private and public cloud, is quickly becoming a clear answer to many companies’ needs for consistently managing applications across both cloud types. While not a new convention of cloud computing by any means, it is not one of the more well-known types of cloud computing to enterprises. Some benefits of hybrid cloud computing can include (and certainly aren’t constrained to):

• Superior performance
• Enhanced security features
• Consistent server reliability
• SaaS capabilities delivered both on- and off- client location
• Customized, and oftentimes reduced cost

Acting FedRAMP Director Ashley Mahan weighs in on the widespread potential hybrid cloud has on the federal level:

“I truly believe that cloud is becoming that new normal across the board,” she said. “I’m really excited. I’m hearing a lot of hybrid cloud approaches, strategy from some different government organizations, as well as some multi-cloud approaches.”

Certainly not a new feature or innovation in the cloud space, hybrid cloud computing is quickly being regarded as the superior option for businesses who are looking for the “best of both worlds” when it comes to public/private cloud features. As IT expenditures continue to increase, it’s important to identify the best application for your company, whether that’s adaptation of public, private or hybrid cloud infrastructure.

Contact Wowrack today to discuss your needs, and we’d be happy to talk about how we can exceed your expectations as your managed provider. You may also consider having us help with a complimentary Cloud Cost Analysis!

The post Hybrid Cloud Trends in 2019 appeared first on Wowrack Blog.