Are they for you?
The hybrid cloud isn’t new. But to say it’s remained unchanged since it was introduced to IT processes isn’t true either. Over the last decade, developers have pushed the limits of the cloud and proved just what the cloud is capable of; meanwhile, IT managers and executives alike have found more and more ways of overhauling workflow processes to improve productivity and profits. From this search for efficiency, many companies found themselves relying on a hybrid cloud solution to address their needs.
First, it’s important to clear up any confusion surrounding what the hybrid cloud is. A combination approach to cloud services, a hybrid cloud solution is a strategy in which a business relies on a private cloud solution in addition to a public cloud solution. Rather than creating redundancy, a hybrid approach allows many businesses to work more efficiently. Private and public clouds, however, each come with their own benefits and pitfalls. Understanding what each service provides and lacks is the first step in determining whether or not a hybrid cloud solution would work for your organization.
Having a hybrid cloud solution has many benefits, one of which is often spoken about is scalability. Whether growth is planned for your business or certain events have led to your organization needing to downsize, a public cloud can scale to fit your needs. Public clouds like BigMIND by Zoolz, who use Amazon Web Services, offer their storage on a subscription basis, allowing customers to only pay for their specific cloud needs. Unfortunately, local private clouds don’t offer the same convenience and are locked to the capacity that is determined during set up.
However, private clouds do provide their own benefits, one of which is accessibility. For immediate file sharing and system updates, private clouds are the best performers. Data is readily available at a moment’s notice, making group projects and collaboration between departments seamless. While instant cloud storage, or hot storage, allows for immediate access of data and sharing, the upload and download speeds from a locally accessed cloud are unparalleled compared to that of a web-connected solution.
But the IT functions and data management of a private cloud fall inferior to the features offered by public cloud services. Many cloud backup providers offer features to assist in data management such as optical character recognition, deduplication, and block-level file uploads to maintain upload and space efficiency. Not to mention, a public cloud is already set up and simply requires a sign in. Private clouds require more space, more attention and more knowledge from the IT staff during set up and beyond. Businesses with limited resources may not be able to support the cost or space a private cloud requires so relying on a public cloud provider may be more conducive to their needs.
Not all cloud service providers can support all industries or businesses, however. Compliance continues to be an issue for cloud service providers and their clients, particularly those who face additional compliance regulations, like the healthcare industry. Now, almost all industries face some regulation regarding the handling of client and user data. In this way, a private cloud could prove useful. Though some cloud service providers struggle with this, not all do. Public cloud backup providers, such as BigMIND by Zoolz, which was built with business in mind, is compliant with individual laws set in different regions around the world, from GDPR in Europe to the Privacy Act in Australia and the PDPA in Singapore and CCPA as well as HIPAA in the US.
Hybrid cloud solutions generally work across multiple industries and businesses. Public and private clouds each have their own list of advantages and disadvantages; a hybrid cloud solution allows each system to compensate for the disadvantage of the other. For medium to large businesses that have the ability to build a private cloud in accordance with their public cloud provider, a hybrid cloud would help lower data storage and management costs. Smaller businesses that don’t have as many resources may want to consider streamlining their data storage by only utilizing a public cloud. Either way, cloud storage whether public, private, or hybrid continues to benefit businesses of any size and across multiple industries.
—
Whether you’re looking for a hybrid solution or a public cloud-only solution, BigMIND by Zoolz can help! To view all of the AI-powered cloud backup plans we offer, head to https://www.zoolz.com/bigmind/