Eight tips for building a hybrid cloud

1. analyze the current environment

The first step for a successful hybrid cloud implementation starts with an analysis of the current workloads. It is important to identify which tasks are adequate for the public cloud, private cloud and traditional IT. Mission-critical environments and most sensitive data are not good choices for the public cloud; regulatory requirements can fundamentally thwart this use. Seasonal, non-critical workloads and short-lived applications, on the other hand, are ideal for leveraging the scalability of a public cloud. Peaks and lulls in web traffic can be absorbed.

2. clearly define guidelines and rules

With rules and policies, companies can document for which applications and data a private or public cloud is suitable. Performance and regulatory requirements should be kept in mind, as well as mission-critical environments, geographic constraints and strategic core business applications.

3. think outside your own IT world

A hybrid cloud solution offers new capabilities and technologies. Now companies need to assess how this huge potential can best serve day-to-day business. This is an ideal opportunity to rethink business processes, make the IT organization more efficient and align it with the business objective. You should resist the temptation to transfer existing processes to a hybrid cloud solution. Better: think about how this new type of environment can be used to derive maximum benefit for the business.

4. the question of costs

Reducing costs and improving performance are likely and a crucial aspect of the hybrid cloud strategy. Cost savings must be considered in the short and long term, as well as total cost of ownership. The hybrid cloud offers many opportunities to save money. Any investment in hardware should be reconsidered to see if a public or hybrid cloud solution would be more cost effective. Companies therefore have the opportunity to shift from a capital-oriented to a flexible operating cost-oriented IT model.

5. assess resources realistically

Enterprises must not forget to consider the human resources required to implement, migrate and manage a hybrid cloud. Hybrid clouds are very complex and require expertise in transformation, compliance, storage, networking, virtualization and management. It is highly unlikely that an organization can cover all of this with existing resources. They will therefore need to rely on a trusted advisor or service provider that could be part of the chosen solution.

6. search for - and find - the right partner

An essential ingredient for a successful hybrid cloud solution is a trusted partner with proven experience in implementing hybrid clouds. Ideally, a partner who clearly understands the need and is able to guide the company through the process. It makes sense to ask for successful references from the same industry or similar hybrid cloud projects.

7. trust is good, control of the public cloud is better

Ultimately, it is a company's own responsibility to ensure that business processes and compliance requirements are met by the public cloud partner. In doing so, they need tools to manage and monitor their hybrid cloud environment in real time. To do this, they need to discuss the available options with the partner and test the management using non-critical environments. Encryption functions for data held in the public cloud are also relevant.

8. don't rush: step by step to the hybrid cloud

Solid implementation of a hybrid cloud solution is critical to ensure the trust of management, users and customers. If companies don't have any experience with private clouds, they should build them first and then select some applications and workloads to be considered for the hybrid cloud. This step could also be a good opportunity to compare two cloud providers. They can learn from this experience and gradually migrate additional workloads as they feel more comfortable and confident. The flexible nature of the hybrid cloud allows you to adjust processes as needed until you achieve the results that are satisfactory for your business.

Source: http://www.actifio.com/de

"A hybrid cloud strategy combines the control of a private cloud with the flexibility of the public cloud. The benefits an organization can derive depend on the effort invested in designing, building, implementing and monitoring the hybrid cloud solution."