Leading organisations are turning to hybrid clouds to reach out to new customers, reduce costs with technology, access remote capabilities, and, above all, streamline innovation. The hybrid cloud is slowly but surely becoming the default choice for most enterprises across industries. Hybrid cloud computing provides an organisation with the flexibility and freedom to use private cloud on-premises, which can accommodate sensitive data and workloads while using a third-party public cloud service. The hybrid cloud offers the best combination of scalability, ease of use, strategic flexibility, and data security.
Hybrid cloud solutions have truly transformational benefits, as they allow optimisation of manageability, performance, and costs. By deploying a hybrid strategy that encompasses both public and private clouds, enterprises can gain maximum efficiency for their applications. The hybrid cloud is supposed to be a seamless solution that delivers optimal performance to the user. In truth, organisations are struggling with the hybrid architecture, as it involves multiple components of different types. But the good news is that the challenges aren’t insurmountable.
Review these practices to ensure you make the most of your hybrid cloud solution.
Table of Contents
1. Closely Monitor Data Ingress and Egress
Move the data where it needs to be together with its lifecycle. Figure out what applications should be run from on-premises hardware and what should be run from the public cloud platform. In other words, determine the purpose of the workload. In the absence of proper planning and oversight, costs can easily spiral out of control. So, closely manage data ingress and egress. The hefty fees can hinder innovation. Before sending data to the cloud, dedupe and compress it.
Data ingress designates the traffic that comes from outside the organisation and is transferred into it, while data egress refers to the data that leaves the network and is transferred to an external location. In a hybrid cloud infrastructure, data ingress and egress take place whenever data moves from one component to another.
If data constantly moves between parts of the hybrid infrastructure, this will negatively impact performance. Moving to the hybrid cloud requires a strategy. When planning for data migration, be sure to align everyone on your strategies. Data in motion is vulnerable to abuse, which is why it’s a good idea to encrypt it during transit. Most importantly, you’ll want to avoid data loss. Have a backup plan in case of data loss or corruption. Test the process beforehand.
2. Don’t Use Cloud-Native Tools
You can blend two or more clouds of the same type. For instance, you can have more than one public cloud service combined with private cloud resources. Hybrid multi-cloud solutions are widespread because nobody relies only on just one cloud. Public cloud vendors make available various tools to monitor and manage workloads hosted on their clouds. The problem is that native tools will only help you control the parts of your infrastructure that are in the cloud. They’re not compatible with private clouds or on-premises resources. You should invest in broadly compatible technology.
3. Define A Policy for Cloud Governance
Governance makes it easier to manage cloud resources. For organisations with hybrid clouds, governance becomes vital, particularly if they’re operating in countries with firm data privacy and data migration policies. You can overcome the many challenges of hybrid cloud management with a strong governance policy. It’ll ensure this complex environment meets organisational policies, best practices, and compliance obligations. Establish a policy that addresses the risks and defines the necessary steps to remediate the situation. Given that cloud governance is the result of ongoing effort, transformation doesn’t happen overnight.
Probably one of the most significant parts of cloud governance is continuous hybrid cloud optimisation. As the needs of your organisation evolve and your business grows, it may be necessary to reconfigure the IT environment to accommodate these changes. Flexibility is key. For example, you might need to migrate some of the workloads back to on-premises, as it’s the most logical move to keep growing efficiently. When you’re flexible, you’re able to deal with unexpected challenges quickly and efficiently. Remember, modern businesses depend on flexibility.
4. Simplify Management Via Abstraction
At times, managing a hybrid cloud infrastructure can turn out to be challenging. It would be helpful to have a tool (or several tools) that can unite (abstract) the underlying infrastructure into a single interface. This way, it’s simpler to manage different parts of the hybrid cloud, so you can meet the agility, security, and governance needs of the modern business. It’s an approach that enhances the flexibility of hybrid cloud computing. Use cloud abstraction layers to unify disparate components.
5. Integrate Next-Generation Security
One common misconception that enterprises have is that the cloud provider handles all aspects relating to security. Hybrid cloud security is a shared responsibility. Essentially, it’s up to you to make sure that the hybrid cloud infrastructure is secure and reliable. Isolate the most critical infrastructure from other systems and ensure it’s accessed by as few people as possible. Hybrid cloud computing happens in real-time, which is beneficial in terms of speed. Nonetheless, it creates an opportunity for attacks. It’s necessary to take measures along those lines.
Equally, you can resort to emerging security solutions. For instance, you can integrate virtual security appliances to gain better control of your data. Your computer network will be protected from unwanted traffic. Virtual security appliances can be both active and passive elements. They combine various features, including firewalling, content filtering, and intrusion detection. As with any kind of security, visibility is of the essence. Therefore, get a better understanding of the network flows in your organisation. As the network complexity rises, so does the potential for trouble. It’s important to have network monitoring.
All in all, the hybrid cloud doesn’t need to be complex. If used correctly, it can propel your business forward. Adopting a hybrid cloud solution often requires upskilling and organisational transformation. The hybrid cloud needs to be implemented in an organised, careful, and strategic manner for the best results.
