Companies are opting for this type of cloud computing, as the combination of public and private clouds enables cost reductions and ensures security.
Public, private or hybrid clouds. These are the three different forms of cloud computing and when choosing between them, companies seem to be opting for the agility and security offered by the hybrid version, which combines both public and private benefits.
Public cloud services are supplied by a provider through the Internet. It is fast, easy, costs are shared among everyone, and it is able to increase computing if demand increases. The process is transparent to the user and allows information to be shared when working on projects with other people or companies.
The private cloud has the same characteristics as the public one but is exclusive. It ensures the control and security of critical data, although this entails a greater cost: it requires more capital investment and a team to manage the cloud efficiently.
Conversely, the hybrid cloud is a combination of private and public cloudsfrom multiple providers. The resources from a public cloud can be used to increase the capacity of a private one at times with high bandwidth consumption peaks, without having to make the capital investment that this would entail.
In a company, the hybrid cloud makes it possible not to have to migrate all services to the cloud where there is critical and confidential information such as, for example, transactions in a database – this information would be in the private cloud – and, on the other hand, it allows for increasing or decreasing processing on demand at any given time (this would be done in the public cloud).
The infrastructure is adapted, achieving cost savings by not having an extended team when it is not needed. The biggest challenge of these clouds is security and ensuring that all providers can communicate with each other.
In hybrid clouds the public cloud for customers outside IT is combined with the private one for those within IT. You can use a public cloud to interact with users while keeping your data protected in your private cloud. Investment is not made in private clouds because there are services that exist in public clouds - much faster - and as security is of concern to businesses, an SaaS (software as a service) application can be used, in which the application provider can create a private cloud exclusively for the company inside its firewall.
Coca-Cola and NASA, among many others, have opted for hybrid clouds to get the most out of their business. To share information in the case of the former, and in the case of NASA to strengthen space exploring missions and to improve life on Earth.
The conquest of the hybrid version
Among the three options, companies seem to favor hybrid clouds. Almost two thirds of respondents (64%) adopts the hybrid cloud for its agility and the security it offers. Its deployment has grown 9% since 2013, with an adoption rate of 27% worldwide, being highest in Europe, Middle East and Africa, respectively, according to the EMC study conducted on more than 10,000 IT managers in 33 countries.
Developed markets with the most advanced IT economies lead the adoption of cloud computing, while emerging markets are more reluctant and have lower levels of consumption of cloud computing in general.
In Spain, 68% of respondents believe that cloud computing allows companies greater flexibility and security but with nuances: only 22% would be satisfied to migrate most of its applications to the public cloud. Security is the greatest concern when migrating data. Proof of this is what the giant IBM decided to launch in February at Interconnect 2015: the development of a hybrid cloud so sensitive data will not have to leave the country of origin and it will be cloud computing applications that will travel to manage data with servers from each of the countries.
Big blue has opted to create a network in different countries amid growing concern in the industry about where data and the privacy of this information is hosted. A strategy that allows it to provide services to companies that handle sensitive information or governmental institutions, which are prohibited from migrating their data out of the country. In this way they can approach cloud computing without leaving home.