Determining the most suitable ways to integrate cloud computing, if at all, can be an intricate process with multiple factors worth considering before coming to a conclusive decision. This can be mind-boggling and understandably so, due to various recommendations and options to choose from. To further add to the confusion, talk of incorporating a hybrid cloud platform may lead one to wonder where traditional IT storage ends, and where cloud computing begins.
In this article, I say where I believe an on-premises solution may work better in certain situations, perhaps an off-premises solution may be better suited for another scenario, or a combination of both may be necessary for greater flexibility.
In every sector, data is data. How data is categorised can commonly be applied in most business’ IT Infrastructure management. However, a healthy relationship between a client and their MSP is critical, and it is necessary that their IT solutions are tailored to the unique needs of the client.
4 Reasons why on-premises IT solutions are best suited
1. Security is of the highest priority
Data security is always important, but many industries like Government, Finance or Legal have an increased focus in this area. Therefore, the idea of their critical business information being stored in an internet facing’ facility simply raises too many questions, alarm bells begin to ring, and any notion of going down such a path is quickly halted.
Imagine if a government official is responsible for the safeguarding of classified information to preserve National Security “ therefore is apprehensive when presented with the idea of storing such data in a location accessible via the internet. An on-premises option is going to provide far more comfort for the person responsible for protecting this information as they know that it has been quarantined off with restricted access permissions for it.
2. Applications have become obsolete or cannot be migrated
This will not be an issue in many cases as nearly all applications are available either in the cloud or on-premises nowadays, but some legacy software cannot be maintained and utilised forever. Eventually, vendors upgrade hardware, coding language becomes redundant or evolves to the point where they are no longer compatible with off-premises solutions thus meaning a more traditional option becomes fundamental.
3. Migrating entire IT Infrastructures is a highly risky procedure
The credentials of a managed IT services provider who can demonstrate favorable consistency in their ability to safely and securely migrate multi-petabytes of data from traditional IT infrastructures to an off-premises data center can be hugely remarkable and influential on who you choose to partner with.
However, imperative to understand is the nature of what entails an on-premises to off-premises IT Infrastructure migration “ the allocation of time, the manpower needed to carry out tasks and not forgetting the critically important skillsets and experience necessary for the management of such risk.
Critical to factor into your planning is the possibility that your hardware, software or applications are not compatible with cloud platforms and therefore cannot be migrated. Initially taking the time to prepare for this outcome may save a lot more time (and money) further down the line.
If legacy applications are a critical component in your day-to-day operational functionality, perhaps a hybrid cloud approach would be more suitable for your needs. This way, for those applications, it would provide you with the flexibility by not disrupting your existing processes with the improved mobility of having cloud-based applications at your fingertips.
4. You may have already made the investment
You may have already placed significant investment in your on-premises solution which meets your immediate and future requirements. In this case, it makes sense to maximise that investment rather than also paying for a cloud service. However, some cloud services may offer additional benefits over a completely on-premises solution which can outweigh the costs in which case a hybrid solution may suit.
3 Reasons to Choose a cloud/as-a-service architecture
1. You’re in a volatile market which makes it difficult to predict resources requirements
Cloud deployments are helping businesses become more resilient and adaptable to increasing workloads with an enabled ability to quickly scale services up or down. Resources can quickly be expanded or reduced, depending on demand. This is known as Rapid Elasticity’.
Imagine a company chooses to do a promotion or advertise on a primetime TV slot “ during this time their websites and e-commerce may receive a peak in demand, however, this won’t be long-term. Rapid elasticity allows the environment to flex to meet these demands and then scale back down to the customer isn’t paying for resources that they are not using.
This can be manually done, but nowadays, many SaaS platforms have automation capabilities to increase or decrease the resource amount needed for a specific location depending on its current system demands.
2. You need to modernise your IT Infrastructure
In addition to the heavily touted cost-saving benefits of the cloud as well as its flexibility, making a move from on-premises to cloud infrastructures has extensive effects on networks, bandwidth, infrastructure and more. The cloud’s flexibility and variety of on-demand services allow teams to adjust quickly, with little output and in less time.
3. You have a finite IT budget.
‘As-a-service‘ solutions mean the vendor of that product remains in control of operations and upgrades, as well as taking care of the day-to-day maintenance of the solutions. As-a-service options for business owners give greater flexibility when scaling up or down, and have a positive impact on the financial side of the business too. One of the biggest benefits is it frees up individuals on the client side. Where they would otherwise be maintaining and running these systems in-house, that burden is shifted to specialist teams at the vendor instead, thus allowing them to do more within their own organisations.
When to choose a hybrid solution
Many organisations leverage both public and private cloud. This is the basic concept of a hybrid cloud solution; a mix of different cloud deployments integrated together to form a combined IT infrastructure. With this type of infrastructure, end-users can utilise resources from their local private cloud in parallel with the public cloud.
Most businesses who are using private clouds are likely to evolve towards the hybrid cloud direction. Therefore, the hybrid model is becoming increasingly popular and is likely to become the most commonplace cloud infrastructure in the future.
A very useful situation for the hybrid cloud model is called cloud-bursting’. This is when virtual machines can be created on demand then removed again when they are no longer needed. If you need to add more virtual machines, you can but within your public cloud resource limit.
As soon as you see the public cloud workload is shrinking, you can release one virtual machine from the public cloud and release another until you are back to your private cloud resources. This is a simple example of cloud bursting in the hybrid cloud model “ demonstrating how you can use your allocated resources in your private cloud and extend the workload to your public cloud if you need to.
The most common hybrid cloud solutions are where your private cloud provides the majority of computing and services, while email and collaboration tools are provided by services such as Office365 or G Suite.
