HYBRID IT - CANONICAL

It is no secret that adopting a hybrid approach to cloud infrastructure can offer more efficient and agile operations, while lowering costs for organisations. Adoption of hybrid and multi-cloud continues to grow as a result. In fact, more than two-thirds (69%) of IT decision makers now agree that their organisation has accelerated migration to the cloud over the past 12 months, according to Foundry’s 2022 Cloud Computing survey. 

Yet getting it right can be complex, as there are so many different options when it comes to finding the right blend of services. How can a CIO navigate the complex array of options, and pin down the right-set-up for their organisation? 

Hybrid cloud can be a powerful tool

Hybrid clouds use a combination of private cloud and public cloud, with a tight operational connection between the platforms. This allows organisations to run workloads internally with the flexibility to then ‘burst’ them into the public cloud, should compute demand increase.

An example of how this can help businesses manage workflows is the transactional order entry systems used by retailers, which experiences an increase in demand around events like Christmas or Black Friday. Essentially, workloads can be assigned to a cloud platform on a case-by-case basis. The majority of the workloads should run where it costs less to run them. On a large scale that's a private cloud. At the same time, public clouds provide highly scalable on-demand resources that can be used during those heavy load periods.

Getting the best blend

An organisation can almost always depend on the on-demand and seemingly unlimited capacity of a public cloud for the majority of its operations, while then paying for a smaller private cloud where necessary. IT professionals can take advantage of serverless computing services for compute-intensive operations.

This is not always straightforward. One area which continually causes problems when it comes to a hybrid cloud strategy is the interaction between private clouds and public cloud providers, which demands API compatibility and excellent network connectivity. Such issues can potentially be overcome by developing hybrid cloud workflows that can work with multiple cloud providers – but this involves heavy-duty workload design, testing and refinement. This additional complexity also raises challenges when it comes to monitoring hybrid cloud deployments.

Hybrid cloud differs to the best-of-breed element of multi-cloud, where different clouds aren’t necessarily dependent on orchestration between one another. Instead, they are deployed in a way which allows organisations to run applications in their most optimal environment.

The growth of multi-cloud

In recent years, hybrid cloud has been overtaken by its close relative ‘multi-cloud’, which is typically two or more public clouds that can be again extended with a private cloud. In the healthcare industry, multi-cloud adoption is expected to jump from 27% to 51% in the next three years, in line with the global trend of evolving IT infrastructure.

The flexibility of multi-cloud offers many benefits, but the main is that separate different workloads are filtered into different environments depending on their specific requirements. It also opens up new opportunities for innovation, such as enabling organisations to rapidly roll out new services to customers. Customers are no longer at the mercy of a vendor’s decision to increase costs. With the freedom of choice that multi-cloud offers, they are empowered to maximise their ROI by choosing the most cost-efficient solution. 

This is clearly important for enterprises, as cost optimisation is often seen as the biggest driver to adopting a multi-cloud setup. The beauty of multi-cloud is that it provides the flexibility to spin up whatever resources are needed to solve specific needs, thereby optimising the return on cloud investments.

The winning tactic

Scaling and growth is always a priority for any business, not least while trying to maintain flexibility and cost efficiencies, adopt reliable platforms, and meet the demands of a dynamic regulatory environment. Cloud technology can prove instrumental in helping an organisation to achieve such a tricky balancing act.

With a multi-cloud approach, businesses can innovate while avoiding vendor lock-in, meet the evolving needs of their customers, and ultimately maximise their investment. Achieving a balance of public and private cloud options within a multi-cloud deployment is proving to be the winning tactic, helping organisations to maintain growth and a competitive edge.