When it comes to maximizing the potential of the cloud, every IT department needs to make critical decisions regarding the appropriate cloud infrastructure for their organization’s data and application workloads. With countless different providers, solutions and models on offer, many IT teams find it hard to make informed decisions and identify the one solution that works best for their organization. Factors such as cost, capacity, scalability and security all come into play, and even deciding between public and private cloud can be a challenging first hurdle to cross.
Spot the difference
When it comes to public cloud, there are several key advantages, not least scalability. You can grow and shrink your resources according to demand and whenever you need additional compute power, storage or networking, it is there on tap. In comparison, private cloud platforms are limited to the available hardware within the environment.
Public clouds also offer increased reliability with consistent, dependable services and minimal downtime (SLAs guaranteeing 99.99% uptime are not unusual). At the same time, they typically enhance compliance with various regulatory requirements demands regarding data.
Cost is another factor that plays a part in decision-making. From a public cloud perspective, they usually offer a flexible subscription model with hourly or monthly billing, meaning no need for a costly upfront investment in software licenses or hardware. Some studies have indicated that the public cloud provides a 30% cost reduction compared to hyperscalers based on standardized workload benchmarks. Depending on your particular use case, that could vary.
On the other side of the question is the private cloud and it too offers a number of benefits. When it comes to security, hosting privately obviously means you are the sole tenant with exclusive access to the resources with no other users on the server. All data and applications reside within your company’s boundaries, minimizing the risk of malicious access and data breaches.
Although public cloud can help with some data compliance regulations, the private cloud approach actually provides better regulatory adherence. That’s because it offers enhanced control over compliance requirements meaning organizations subject to healthcare, government or financial regulations can enforce compliance more effectively.
Private clouds also provide an increased level of customization, so you can tailor hardware, software, and configurations to meet your specific needs. This control allows for fine-tuning to create optimal performance, resource utilization, and bandwidth capabilities. And, when considering cost, private clouds offer long-term predictability. Rather than usage-based pricing, which can rise at the whim of the cloud provider, private clouds have all the costs baked in on a fixed infrastructure. This means you know precisely what resources are in operation and how much they will cost over the years. This helps with budgeting and financial forecasting, making it simple to predict lifetime costs of infrastructure.
Private clouds can also include integrated managed services and self-service tools, enabling authorized users to provision resources as and when required. This versatility enhances operational efficiency and reduces the administrative overhead, while managed services can address maintenance, monitoring, and troubleshooting.
Public cloud use cases
Given scalability is the key advantage of the public approach, it is best suited to deploying web applications, APIs and content delivery networks; spinning up temporary environments for development, testing and prototyping; processing large datasets; and hosting collaboration tools, email exchanges and productivity suites.
Private cloud use cases
When considering the private cloud, having exclusive network and hardware and customization is key. This makes it ideal for storing sensitive data, confidential information and intellectual property; running legacy applications that won’t work in a public environment; meeting industry-specific regulations; and undertaking HPC simulations and modelling.
Best of both worlds
The hybrid cloud approach is an alternative for businesses, combining the flexibility and scalability of the public cloud with the control and security of private infrastructure. This blend allows organizations to balance their need for agility with their requirements for data protection, and regulatory compliance.
With the hybrid model, organisations can also optimise costs by keeping routine workloads and sensitive data in the private cloud while using the public cloud for less sensitive operations that demand more computational power. When it comes to innovation, hybrid provides access to cutting edge technologies such as AI, machine learning and big data analytics via the public cloud without the need for a massive upfront investment, while maintaining sensitive legacy applications on-site.
Whichever model suits you best, there is no doubt that some flavor of cloud will help boost your business. Now is the time to explore how cloud technologies can work best for you.
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