English | EN HYBRID CLOUD, HYBRID CLIENTS…HYBRID SOLUTIONS!
January 15, 2015
We already discussed some time back how important the cloud is today and the benefits that this technology can bring to the client, however, the cloud still comes with doubts and fears: data security, cyber-attacks (don’t miss Sogeti’s book about it), governments intrusions, lack of supports, etc. This is why hybrid-cloud is more and more a trend today and a good compromise between private and public cloud. How can we help our clients with this challenge?more–>
Hybridcloud merges the benefits of public cloud (Amazon, O365, etc.) with the comfort of an on premise technology. Let’s think how our clients need to communicate with external partners that are outside their network or Active Directory in terms of authentication. A hybrid approach will be able to keep completely independent the two ecosystems: sensitive information will remain local, while everything that needs to be shared can live in the cloud. Especially in programs like ECM (Enterprise Content Management) where collaboration (internal or external) is crucial, hybrid-cloud can make life much easier. Moreover, let’s also remember the benefits in terms of costs, switching from a CAPEX model (you buy all the required hardware, even if you use it only at its 10%) to the OPEX approach, paying only what you consume. Software editors have clearly understood what companies are looking for and many collaboration products today are moving in this direction. A couple of these are NemakiWare, an open source CMS, or the hybrid solution offered by SharePoint 2013.
Of course the hybrid-cloud is not magic and we have to keep in mind all the pros and cons of this approach:
|
PROS |
CONS |
| High performances: Network must be secured, but with the use of virtualization a high performing environment can be built.Scalability: When demand increases, the cloud can extend capacity almost immediately and keep safe the flexibility.
Security: While many people continue to think that the cloud is not secure (which I don’t believe), the hybrid-cloud guarantees isolation of really private content to the company Low price: With very low operational costs and no hardware maintenance for the cloud, the companies can focus their efforts on improving features for their businesses instead of buying servers that are only partially used. |
Infrastructure: To put in place all the necessary configuration to have a secure hybrid-cloud is not easy and has major drawbacks.SLAs: The SLAs need to be constructed carefully and be able to serve both your users on premise and in the cloud.
Data Protection & Compliance: There will be 2 independent environments that will need to respect the company compliance rules and data needs to be protected and secured in two separate ecosystems. Complex Networking: The network in a hybrid configuration plays for 70% of the solutions. This networking is complex and high competencies are necessary. |
So, what’s the point? Our clients are looking for scalability and flexibility and we can reach these goals only by being flexible ourselves and creating flexible solutions.
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