Decoding Hybrid Cloud and What it Really Means to an Enterprise

The evolution of cloud in Asia Pacific including India has been gradual yet mature. So far enterprises were treading carefully on the stepping stones but now we are witnessing real adoption beyond just the SMEs. Three years back, enterprises were considering dedicated private cloud infrastructure to support mission-critical systems and explore public cloud for integration and testing. However, now the debate is no longer about using private or public cloud models in isolation. Enterprises have become more open to the idea of cloud after assessing hybrid models which give them the flexibility their business needs. According to Gartner, nearly half of large enterprises will have hybrid cloud deployments by the end of 2017. Cloud deployment can be private, public or hybrid. With cloud, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Sometimes the best solution turns out to be a combination of alternatives.

Determining what can be moved to a hybrid cloud

We have identified seven scenarios for enterprises for hybrid cloud approach:

Data security: Applications that utilize data that needs to be highly secure or is business critical is better suited for private Cloud. While low-confidentiality applications can be hosted on a public cloud service.

Scalability: Scalability and is one of the top reasons for cloud adoption. Even though an enterprise may use private cloud for most applications, it can use public cloud in addition during peak periods. Also for industries where processing loads are seasonal, like many BPOs in India, scalability brings in a lot of flexibility.

Applications and data: Similar to security an enterprise may use public cloud for a variety of applications and host the data only in private cloud. This will balance the processing and data load during peak and lows.

Data synchronization and backup: Enterprises want data to be synchronized across all sites including in-house data centers and use private Clouds where they lack IT infrastructure. An example could be emerging markets. Which is also a reason we see rapid private cloud adoption across Asia Pacific. Cloud disaster recovery is also an important consideration when opting for cloud.

Testing: Public Cloud may be a good place to test applications before you deploy them on hybrid or private platforms.

Mobility: Cloud is central to mobility as enterprises are looking for an anywhere anytime access to corporate applications. With employee mobility increasing as the workspace evolves this will be a priority for enterprises.

What's standing in the way of hybrid cloud?

Eventually cloud adoption is about trust. Migrating to the cloud raises many questions for companies: Where do I start? When does it make sense to virtualize? What happens with my legacy IT? Which cloud services should I choose?

The response to these will depend on questions that you will need to answer: What is your organization's existing infrastructure and its support model? How do you match the existing infrastructure with the organization's business demands? Is your infrastructure a DIY model or do you have components of managed services? And so on.

The most important question is:  Who can help me with this transition?

CIOs are mapping their path to the cloud and identifying where public and private cloud solutions will be leveraged - a mix of IT delivery methods to meet their users' demands. Professional services are part of the answer that a trusted operator can bring to enterprises throughout their cloud journey.  The enterprises should look for a trusted operator and integrator which is willing to remain vendor agnostic and is ready to partner with other IT players to bring the enterprise the best available solution earn trust and promote cloud adoption.

The operator should be able to bundle together the network, a secure Cloud infrastructure and a catalogue of software and infrastructure management services under one framework agreement, to provide a one stop shop for migration. The cloud provider should understand your cloud needs. Even if there is a compelling business event like the need for infrastructure consolidation, refresh for end-of-life systems or the challenges of delivering 24/7 support, the correct cloud model to adopt will depend on the answers to this self-assessment. They will guide the organization in selecting the most appropriate cloud model -- public, private or hybrid -- as well as which components of the cloud best suit it and when they should be implemented.

Security is the top concern for CIOs in Asia Pacific when exploring cloud. Traditional approaches to security in the enterprise have been based on control - within the enterprise walls and firewalls. In the borderless enterprise, information resides in cloud and is accessed from many devices outside enterprise's sanctum sanctorum. Security requirements for various applications, data and processes will answer the question on what is best suited for your organization: public, private or hybrid cloud model.

CIOs in India are increasingly considering hybrid cloud models over others. This makes necessary to carefully plan the transition and gradual transformation. Assessing the impact is crucial as the cloud model will dynamically adapt to business demands.