Cloud computing infrastructure
Cloud computing, given its purported benefits and high-profile proponents, garners a great deal of attention when the outsourcing of infrastructure is considered.
It’s sometimes seen as the sole solution for organisations that want to improve operational efficiency, lower costs and improve security.
Workloads don’t have to be deployed exclusively in the cloud though for organisations to realise the benefits of infrastructure outsourcing.
Hybrid cloud computing
Hybrid cloud computing, a combination of on-premise, private, and third-party cloud computing services, in an increasingly common configuration employed by enterprises. Cloud and colocation, for example, are used by organisations to deploy and manage multi-cloud environments.
The physical location of assets is less important than the services delivered and service levels received, according to the Gartner Group. The technology industry consultancy has noted that organisations can mitigate risk by adding services to data center portfolios.
Critical elements
Colocation data centers are critical elements of the hybrid cloud equation. Colocation providers are necessary to meld aspects of on-premise, cloud and colocated IT together.
The colocation provider can act as a hub of sorts in such instances for connecting, managing, monitoring and migrating technology assets across a large hybrid footprint. Without the right level of interconnection, or adequate security, compliance and managed services, the proper levels of service and support are unachievable, and business is at significant risk.
Proper connectivity, however, is an essential ingredient of a successful hybrid IT strategy as the business, workload and applications, need to be tied together. ‘There is no simplified provisioning without secure, high-speed interconnection between applications,’ Gartner indicated in a report called The Future of the Data Center in the Cloud Era.
A tailored approach to the evaluation of workloads and applications to determine their appropriate environments is necessary though
The benefits of a varied approach have resonated with enterprises and service providers worldwide; almost two-third of organisations are working with a hybrid cloud environment of some variety, Forrester Research has said.
