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When discussing cloud migration, it often seems like organizations must choose between fully adopting the cloud or sticking to local or hosted data centers. However, the reality is more nuanced, and for many organizations, a middle ground is more practical.
While cloud migration is a recurring topic, not every organization will thrive in a fully cloud-based environment. Due to regulatory requirements and personal preferences, some companies opt for a hybrid cloud migration strategy, maintaining a portion of their data assets locally. According to TechRepublic, 82% of IT leaders favor a hybrid cloud solution for their organizations. Is this the right choice for your business? Which approach makes the most sense for your organization? Before making a decision, it's essential to evaluate the benefits and best practices of each approach.
Definition of "Full Cloud"
First, let's define the two types of cloud environments. A full cloud, often referred to as a public cloud, is a computing environment where all resources, storage, and services are hosted and managed by a third-party cloud service provider. Essentially, you only need a screen, a keyboard, and sufficient processing power to connect to the internet and run connected applications.
The primary advantage of moving entirely to the cloud is simplicity. By transitioning all IT infrastructure, applications, and data to the cloud, an organization can eliminate or significantly reduce its dependence on local hardware and data centers.
From a financial perspective, a full cloud migration simplifies cost forecasting. Organizations can base their infrastructure costs on the cloud provider's billing plans, rather than managing separate budgets for cloud and local infrastructure expenses.
Another major benefit is near-infinite scalability. Cloud providers allow organizations to easily scale resources up or down based on demand, ensuring that resource allocation matches actual needs.
Definition of Hybrid Cloud
A hybrid cloud is a computing environment that combines public and private clouds, including local data centers or "edge" locations, to run applications.
Hybrid cloud migration involves creating this hybrid data architecture. In this approach, public and private clouds remain separate entities but are interconnected, allowing organizations to move data and applications between them as needed. This flexibility and variety of deployment options are advantages not achievable with a purely public or private cloud setup.
Hybrid clouds are particularly valuable for dynamic or highly variable workloads. For example, during peak periods such as holiday sales events, an organization can migrate applications to the public cloud to handle increased traffic and enable rapid scaling. During regular operations, baseline workloads can be managed in a private cloud to optimize resource utilization and costs.
Full vs. Hybrid: Which Cloud is Better?
When should you opt for a complete cloud migration, and when is a more cautious hybrid cloud strategy preferable? The answer depends on several key factors.
Business Needs
Partial cloud migration may be suitable for specific business applications, while a full cloud migration may align better with a comprehensive digital transformation strategy.
Security and Privacy
A hybrid cloud approach allows organizations to retain a degree of control over their data, while a full cloud migration requires more detailed consideration of the cloud service provider's security measures.
Existing Investments
Partial cloud migration can reduce initial costs and risks by migrating only specific workloads to the cloud. In contrast, a full cloud migration may involve a larger upfront investment but can lead to greater cost savings over time.
Typically, newer organizations tend to migrate entirely to the cloud, while more established organizations often prefer a phased transition, resulting in a hybrid approach.
Conclusion
If you're unsure which path to take, consider starting with a partial cloud migration and gradually moving more workloads to the cloud. For those wary of becoming overly reliant on the cloud, there's the option of "repatriating" cloud workloads back to local environments. However, this repatriation can be labor-intensive. Therefore, beginning with a limited cloud migration and scaling up as needed is a relatively low-risk strategy.