Here are 4 essential factors to know about small business hybrid cloud solutions

In the recent times, cloud computing has gained immense popularity and reverence in the IT sector. The new emergence has led to growing number of business services using the combination of private cloud and public cloud service, in the form of hybrid cloud solutions to bring about efficiency in functions. The infrastructure enables institutions and organizations to smoothly run applications on a slew of platforms, thereby putting rest to concern, ‘one platform is not suitable for everything’.

Small businesses that have a dynamic and changing mode of workload, have found to derive impressive benefits from this strategy. There is no one-size fit for all small businesses and there are several aspects that must be understood about cloud solutions, here is all that one must know.

What factors should be considered before moving to small business hybrid cloud solutions?

• A small business typically moves to hybrid cloud solutions to attain higher scalability and agility but there is planning that goes into undertaking the transition. The move has to be well planned to avoid interruption in business functions. Testing apps and a development process must be carefully put in place.
• Small business hybrid cloud solutions will require the organization to divert attention towards the IT infrastructure. There may be complexity and issues that could develop in the process, thus measures must be taken.
• The costs of moving to hybrid cloud solutions must be estimated and a budget should be prepared. The cost of transition can run high and the cost of added skills and external assistance too has to be added to the pay model.

How secure is the hybrid cloud solution?

• Hybrid cloud solutions are believed to be more secure than solely employing a private or public solution. However, the platforms do face several security threats.
• Issues like ransomware can greatly affect the business, thus, organizations must be very vigilant to make sure that the system is not comprised.
• There are cloud solutions that cater customized systems and can provide peace of mind.

What data type should small businesses avoid integrating with hybrid cloud solutions?

• For certain types of business services, it is not advisable or safe to bring highly sensitive and regulated data to the cloud. Therefore, such data must be closely evaluated and left on-premises for safety.
• There may be some data that requires instant availability and latency in network bandwidth could affect the smooth functioning of the same. Thus, regularly accessed data must be avoided on cloud.

How do you assess business requirements from hybrid cloud solutions?

• It is essential to determine whether the data is going to be privacy regulated on cloud. If it does not meet with the business type, then one may consider in-house security.
• The hybrid cloud solution must be capable of keeping up with the future business developments. It should allow free movement on-premises and deployments models rather than imposing a long-term restriction.
• Can the business function smoothly even in times of loss of network? In an event of failure, a backup plan should be available to avoid getting stranded.
• Assess the needs of the business in terms of the total value being offered by the hybrid cloud solution service. From the data centers to the service level agreement, ensure that you understand how the same will impact the business. What is provided and how will it enhance the small business marketing to grow further?

For small businesses, hybrid cloud solutions can reduce a large portion of operational cost, but it also comes with its set of challenges. One of the biggest difficulties is that organizations that have been using single platforms may not be able to effectively manage and protect the hybrid cloud adaptation. Thus, choosing the right hybrid cloud solution is imperative and factors such as flexibility, application management, operational cost and more. The aim for small business hybrid cloud solutions is to be deployed in a way so as to drive a valuable performance.

tags – small business hybrid cloud solutions