The Good, The Bad, The Hybrid

By now, everyone has had some experience with ‘the cloud’ and understands the basic premises of data storage and access to applications. For better or worse, the cloud is here to stay as more of our applications and places we store our data has become cloud-based.
This hard trend of moving to the cloud has many advantages, as well as some disadvantages. I’m going to outline these for you below that includes an updated perspective given this COVID pandemic.
First of all, I think a lot of cloud initiatives, pre-pandemic, were accelerated as a result of this event that caused many to work from home and remote.
So, what are the key advantages of moving more to the cloud?
Cloud solutions provide a more robust and secure solution for remote workers.
Lower maintenance costs of IT infrastructure and support.
Provides for more redundancy and business continuity.
Better control and security of corporate data that is prone to theft.
And yet, there are some disadvantages as well.
The more cloud, the more need for internet bandwidth and costs to ensure full time access.
Some line of business software may not migrate well and will require extra cost to support.
Power users of graphic intensive apps may still need a local desktop for some workloads.
Regardless of whether your apps and data are in the cloud, or operate locally on traditional premise-based server hardware (prem-based), the need for cybersecurity will be the same for both. Cloud does not relieve a business of cybersecurity best practices, and prem-based solutions have become key targets for cybercriminals. Be sure to assess and understand vulnerabilities of both.
The reality for many though is that cloud is still an evolving part of their business with requires a hybrid cloud-and-premise-based IT strategy.
What are the key reasons for operating a hybrid network?
For legacy-server applications, hybrid provides the best of both worlds.
A hybrid network allows for power users to have a better experience with their local graphics/GIS/AutoDesk applications while securing data in cloud.
Basic general business applications (i.e. Microsoft Office) are off-loaded to cloud while keeping key line-of-business applications in-house, thereby lowering support costs.
Hybrid networks extend mobility and remote access to both cloud and prem-based applications and data, resulting in higher productivity.
Is it time to refresh your server hardware and storage? This is a great inflection point to consider moving more of your prem-based servers and applications to the cloud. There are several factors to consider that will impact your decision.
First of all, you may find that the cost of cloud computing and storage has become very competitively priced. While you will not avoid standard software licensing costs, you will benefit from the scalability of infrastructure costs such as virtual servers, storage, backup and security. This is where Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS, Google Cloud come in.
Migrating prem-based applications and servers to the cloud can be complicated and requires a well thought out plan to be successful. Having a deep understanding of the configurations for cloud-based services can also be complicated with the numerous variables. Engaging a specialist that has experience with these cloud migrations is highly recommended.
In conclusion, business should be planning for more cloud, not less. And this requires a fluid strategy for moving more technology to cloud.
RIATA Technologies provides the expertise to help your business understand your path to the cloud. For your existing cloud solutions we’ll show you how to best manage, keep secure and keep your costs down.
Contact us today for a complimentary assessment or discussion, or visit us at www.riatatechnologies.com.
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