What is Hybrid Cloud? The Future of IT Infrastructure

Hybrid cloud allows organizations to optimize their IT infrastructure by using a mix of cloud services to meet their needs.

February 25, 2023

Hybrid cloud is a cloud computing model that combines the benefits of public cloud and private cloud services. It provides the flexibility of public cloud services and the security and control of private cloud services. In a hybrid cloud environment, an organization uses a combination of on-premises and cloud-based services from multiple vendors to meet its specific IT needs.

Hybrid cloud allows organizations to optimize their IT infrastructure by using a mix of cloud services to meet their needs. For example, an organization can use public cloud services for non-critical workloads and private cloud services for mission-critical workloads that require more control and security.

How are Businesses Using Hybrid Cloud?

As a global leader in Internet infrastructure and enterprise-class data center services, we see many businesses utilizing modern hybrid cloud architectures to distribute applications and data across different environments, such as private data centers, public cloud providers, and strategic edge data center locations. Here are some examples:

Hybrid cloud for workload optimization - Many businesses are adopting a hybrid cloud approach to optimize their workloads. They run mission-critical applications on private cloud or on-premise infrastructure for better control and security, while running non-critical applications or those with unpredictable usage patterns on public cloud environments for scalability and cost savings.
Edge computing for latency-sensitive applications - Businesses are increasingly deploying their applications and data closer to the edge of the network to reduce latency and improve performance. This is particularly important for applications that require real-time data processing or low-latency access, such as IoT devices or gaming applications. By using hybrid cloud architectures, businesses can leverage both public cloud resources and edge computing environments.
Disaster recovery and business continuity - Modern hybrid cloud architectures can be used to create robust disaster recovery and business continuity solutions. By replicating data and applications across multiple cloud environments and on-premise infrastructure, businesses can ensure that their critical services remain available even in the event of a failure or outage.
Data sovereignty and compliance - Many businesses have data residency requirements or need to comply with regulatory mandates for data protection and privacy. By leveraging hybrid cloud architectures, they can keep sensitive data in private cloud environments or on-premise infrastructure, while using public cloud resources for less-sensitive workloads.

What are the Benefits of Hybrid Cloud?

There are several benefits to using a hybrid cloud architecture, including:

Cost Optimization - By using a combination of public and private cloud resources, businesses can optimize their IT spend to match their specific needs. This allows companies to reduce costs while ensuring that their most critical workloads are hosted on a secure and reliable private cloud.
Scalability - Hybrid cloud solutions allow businesses to scale their infrastructure up or down quickly to meet changing demands. This allows companies to respond quickly to changes in their business environment and avoid costly downtime.
Flexibility - With a hybrid cloud architecture, businesses can choose the cloud services that best meet their needs. This allows companies to take advantage of the latest cloud technologies while maintaining control over their most critical workloads.
Security - By using a private cloud for sensitive workloads, businesses can ensure the highest level of security for their data. Hybrid cloud architectures also provide advanced security features such as encryption, multi-factor authentication, and network segmentation.

What are the Challenges of Hybrid Cloud?

While there are many benefits to using a hybrid cloud architecture, there are also several challenges that businesses need to be aware of, including:

Complexity - Hybrid cloud architectures can be complex to set up and manage. Companies may need to invest in additional IT resources or partner with a third-party provider to ensure that their hybrid cloud is configured correctly and operating smoothly.
Integration - Businesses must ensure that their public and private cloud environments are seamlessly integrated to avoid performance issues and data security risks.
Compliance - Hybrid cloud solutions must comply with industry regulations and standards, such as HIPAA and GDPR. Companies must ensure that their hybrid cloud solution meets these requirements to avoid legal and financial penalties.
Security - Hybrid cloud introduces new security risks. Organizations need to ensure that their data and applications are secure across multiple cloud environments.

How to Effectively Leverage Hybrid Cloud Solutions

Leveraging hybrid cloud can help businesses to meet their specific needs and optimize their operations. Here are some best practices for leveraging hybrid cloud to support business needs:

Determine the right mix of public and private cloud resources - Businesses should analyze their workloads to determine which applications and data are best suited for public cloud and which are best kept on-premises or in a private cloud. This will help to ensure that the right resources are deployed in the right locations to meet business needs.
Build a strong network infrastructure - To support a hybrid cloud deployment, businesses need a strong and reliable network infrastructure. This includes high-speed internet connectivity, WAN optimization, and software-defined networking (SDN) to manage traffic flows between public and private clouds.
Adopt a cloud management platform - Managing a hybrid cloud deployment can be complex, so businesses should adopt a cloud management platform that can provide a unified view of all cloud resources. This will help to simplify management and improve visibility into performance and costs.
Ensure data security and compliance - With hybrid cloud, businesses need to ensure that data is secure and compliant with relevant regulations. This can be achieved through encryption, access controls, and data loss prevention (DLP) tools.
Implement a disaster recovery plan - Businesses should have a disaster recovery plan in place that covers both public and private cloud resources. This should include regular backups, failover procedures, and testing to ensure that the plan is effective.
Optimize costs - Hybrid cloud can be cost-effective, but only if resources are deployed and managed efficiently. Businesses should use automation tools to optimize resource allocation and minimize waste.

Best Practices for Building a Hybrid Cloud Solution

Setting up a hybrid cloud involves integrating a private cloud and a public cloud to work together seamlessly, providing greater flexibility, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. Here are some general steps to set up a hybrid cloud:

Assess your needs - Determine what applications and data you want to keep in your private cloud, and what you want to move to the public cloud. Identify the requirements for security, performance, and compliance.
Choose a cloud provider - Select a public cloud provider that meets your requirements and provides the necessary tools and managed services to integrate with your private cloud.
Connect your clouds - Establish a secure and reliable connection between your private cloud and the public cloud. This can be achieved using a VPN, dedicated connection, or other options.
Manage your cloud resources - Use cloud management tools to manage your hybrid cloud resources. This includes monitoring, automating, and optimizing your cloud infrastructure to ensure optimal performance and cost-effectiveness.
Ensure security and compliance - Implement security measures to protect your data and applications in the hybrid cloud. This includes access control, encryption, and compliance with regulatory requirements.
Train your staff - Provide training to your IT staff to ensure they have the necessary skills and knowledge to manage the hybrid cloud effectively.

Setting up a hybrid cloud requires careful planning, integration, and ongoing management. Consider seeking the assistance of a cloud service provider or consulting firm to help you with the process.

Evocative: Delivering Full Suite Colocation for Hybrid Cloud

Evocative helps businesses execute on hybrid cloud strategies with high-performance colocation, network, bare metal, cloud, and managed services, providing a secure platform and a global network presence to help you embrace modern application architectures. With 20 edge data centers and 34 global points of presence, flexible IT deployment and management options, and carrier-neutral network access, our colocation solutions are purpose-built to help you power the demanding workloads of tomorrow.

With Evocative, you can seamlessly connect to your customers, speed up the launch of your services, and scale with agility to deliver world-class experience every single time. More than 7,000 clients have trusted Evocative for their IT services with many having recommended us to their peers.

What is Hybrid Cloud? The Future of IT Infrastructure

How are Businesses Using Hybrid Cloud?

What are the Benefits of Hybrid Cloud?

What are the Challenges of Hybrid Cloud?

How to Effectively Leverage Hybrid Cloud Solutions

Best Practices for Building a Hybrid Cloud Solution

Evocative: Delivering Full Suite Colocation for Hybrid Cloud

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