Get the Best of Both Worlds with Hybrid Clouds

With more than 50 percent of enterprises moving some or full part of their operations to the cloud, it has become the norm for enterprises and their CIO’s to worry about failsafe options and disaster recovery. While for some there are worries about whether keeping data in the cloud is foolproof and secure, for the rest it is the other way around as they want to keep data in the cloud so that they have better backup in case of a disaster. Whatever be the side of the fence that the CIO is on, it makes sense to adopt a policy of dual storage or hybrid cloud where enterprises can opt to have some part of their data on a public cloud and the rest on a private one within their systems. This combination of using private storage and a public cloud is referred to as the hybrid cloud approach where each enterprise hedges its strategy with the mix of options available.

As mentioned in the introduction, with more and more enterprises moving to the cloud, it has become necessary for the CIO’s to start thinking seriously about the cloud platform becoming critical to their IT strategy. Since most of these enterprises are yet to reach the critical threshold level of 30% of their IT needs being on the cloud, the tipping point which determines when the cloud would be the main driver of the IT strategy has not yet been reached. However, prudence and business sense indicates that enterprises and their CIO’s factor in the cloud well before they reach the threshold so that they are not caught unawares when they decide to move more of their applications and data storage to the cloud. Hence, it is imperative that hybrid clouds be tested as a proof of concept exercise before the enterprises move to the cloud completely or move a major portion of their IT systems and data storage.

The reason for such a strategy becomes clear when we examine the implications of using a hybrid cloud for a company’s IT strategy. These range from failsafe recovery and foolproof security and integrity of data and applications on a cloud that has been touted as one of the main benefits that cloud providers offer to enterprises. For those doubting Thomases who still want some or a major part of their IT needs done on-site, there is no harm in trying out a cloud provider like Amazon or Google for a pilot run as a proof of concept exercise. Depending on the results of such an exercise that would determine whether their worries are assuaged or not, they can then decide to move their entire portfolio or a major chunk of it to the cloud. Further, many IT executives have been openly talking about how cloud providers offer quicker data recovery and faster integration of applications as opposed to having them on the enterprises’ own servers. This makes the case for cloud computing and hybrid clouds that much more compelling.

Finally, there are many Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 organizations that are yet to jump on the cloud bandwagon because they have humungous IT architecture and systems that would take a long time to migrate. However, this does not preclude them from trying out a hybrid cloud to test the waters and check for themselves whether that would suit their purpose. The point here is that in these recessionary times, the bottom line can be impacted by cost savings in the same way that top line growth does and hence any company, big or small has to necessarily look for ways to optimize their processes. Hence, for operational and financial reasons, moving to a hybrid cloud makes for eminent business sense.

In conclusion, the cloud computing paradigm and the cloud phenomenon are still under the radar for many companies. However, to ride the crest of the wave that is expected to hit the shores pretty soon, it becomes imperative that CIO’s start thinking about the cloud and what better way to start than by checking out the hybrid cloud.

Tagged as: Amazon, CIO, cloud computing, Google, Hybrid Clouds, IT strategy