When you start defining a cloud strategy, you’d likely face the decision: Public, private, or hybrid cloud? Unfortunately, many companies store data in a cloud solution that doesn’t meet their needs.
Instead of worrying about where you store your data, you should start by determining how you’ll use it. Let’s look at some common use cases to help you find the right approach.
Public Cloud Use Cases
A public cloud provides immediate access to services via the public internet. You don’t have to install or operate your own hardware or software. While you share the provider’s infrastructure with other users, your data and applications are usually separated.
Here are some common public cloud use cases:
Meet Dynamic Resource Requirements
Industries like retail often have fluctuating demands for computing resources due to seasonality or changing market trends. A public cloud solution offers the elasticity to absorb these shifts without slowing down an application’s performance or impacting the customer experience.
Shorten Time to Value
Without having to worry about your IT infrastructure, you can focus you time and energy on developing products and driving sales. A public cloud helps you shorten the time to market without investing a substantial sum in hardware or software.
Leverage AI and Big Data Analytics
Today’s businesses must use data to inform accurate business decisions. But most don’t have the resources to collect and analyze vast amounts of data or develop their own AI algorithms and machine learning (ML) models. A cloud platform allows you to access these capabilities without reinventing the wheel.
Improve Business Resiliency
A public cloud allows you to implement a cost-efficient backup infrastructure for critical services. Such redundancy is essential for your backup and recovery plan to build business resiliency, prevent costly downtime, and avoid revenue loss.
Private Cloud Use Cases
A private cloud delivers IT services over a dedicated network exclusive to your organization. The approach is favored by mid to large companies or those seeking greater security and control over their data, especially in industries like government, defense, and finance.
Here are some common private cloud use cases:
Meet Specialty Hardware Requirements
You may need a private cloud if an application requires specific or non-standard hardware or infrastructure unavailable through any public cloud provider. For example, a workload that requires a virtual machine (VM) with a non-standard CPU and RAM configuration.
Comply with Data Security Laws
Security and data privacy regulations or governance requirements may require organizations to keep sensitive information in a private cloud environment. Some countries have data sovereignty laws mandating companies to store their residents’ data within their borders.
Reduce Network Latency
If your applications demand ultra-low latency, a private cloud deployment can give you an edge because you have more visibility and control over the workloads. Also, an on-premises private cloud typically runs faster for internal users.
Get the Best of Both Worlds: Hybrid Cloud Uses Cases
What if you don’t have to choose between public and private clouds? A hybrid cloud integrates both options into an IT environment. You can choose the most suitable cloud solution for each application and shift workloads fluidly based on moment-to-moment demands.
Here are some common hybrid cloud use cases:
Ease Into Digital Transformation
Many companies recognize the benefits of public clouds, but legacy applications and compliance requirements mean they have to keep their on-premise data centers. Hybrid IT allows you to orchestrate your cloud migration in phases for a seamless transition.
Facilitate Development and Testing
DevOps in a public cloud helps lower costs, facilitate experimentation, and accelerate development cycles. You can also set up on-demand self-service environments to improve developer productivity.
Absorb Workload Spikes
Since workloads can move freely between private and public clouds in a hybrid environment, you can provision additional resources from a public cloud on demand to expand the private cloud’s capabilities to handle highly variable workloads.
Extend Data Processing Capabilities
You can store specific data on a private cloud for security and compliance, then perform advanced analytics on the datasets with powerful public cloud services and the latest technologies like AI and ML.
Make the Most of Your Hybrid IT Implementation
Hybrid IT offers many advantages but is complex to deploy and manage. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution — you must tailor the strategy to support your business and compliance requirements. Working with an experienced partner can help you navigate the journey and optimize your investment.
That’s why companies of all sizes trust Compugen to design and implement an effective hybrid cloud strategy. We start and end with how you use your data in mind to build a solution that will help you lower costs, scale fast, and support innovation with native cloud features like AI and analytics.
Learn more about our hybrid IT offerings and get in touch to plan your journey to cloud computing success.
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