Bringing cloud into your data center

The cloud model allows organisations to reduce operating costs and focus more on their core business instead of expending resources just to manage huge chunks of IT infrastructure

Updated: May 9, 2018 06:30:58 PM UTC
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Security and privacy concerns are possibly two of the biggest barriers to cloud adoption, in addition to regulatory requirements; Image: Shutterstock

To keep pace with the digital economy, many organisations are moving to a cloud-first approach, so that they can innovate faster, serve customers better and create more value for stakeholders. Though cloud is now considered a business imperative, some organisations are still holding back, trying to address questions about data security, resiliency and regulatory compliance. What if there was a way for such organisations to design a cloud environment, similar to a public cloud, within their own data centers?

Cloud adoption is set to go mainstream in 2018, going by several analyst projections and industry reports. According to Forrester, cloud will accelerate digital transformation everywhere, with the total global public cloud market growth pegged at $178 billion this year, up from $146 billion in 2017 at 22% CAGR. Furthermore, Gartner predicts that the global cloud computing market will reach $411 billion by 2020.

The move to the cloud is imminent, and we can see that most enterprises realise this. They also realise that they can’t do it in one go and are adopting a phased approach. As such, Gartner expects hybrid cloud to become the most common form of cloud by 2020. However, a few organisations are still delaying a move to the cloud – not because they don’t want to, but because concerns around information protection, resiliency and regulatory compliance appear to be overriding their intent to transition to the cloud.

Security and privacy concerns are possibly two of the biggest barriers to cloud adoption, in addition to regulatory requirements. In my interactions with several organizations, one common question that comes up for discussion regularly is – ‘is there a way we can enjoy the virtues and benefits of a public cloud, but within our premises?’ With advances in cloud technology, this is indeed possible today.

There are innovative cloud solutions that bring all the benefits of public cloud services within the framework of customers’ on-premises infrastructure - within their own data center (without having to move the data out into the cloud), ensuring data privacy. With such a cloud@customer model, CIOs can now empower their IT teams to move workloads to the cloud while retaining the data within their own premises.

Such an approach gives you the best of both worlds. The choice to leverage any kind of cloud services – be it SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS – from within your own premises, in a public cloud like environment, and on an OPEX model; as a cloud subscription with pay-as-you-go features. The cloud provider monitors and manages the infrastructure using the same tools that are used to manage and provision resources in public cloud.

The business impact can be enormous. It allows organisations to reduce operating costs and focus more on their core business instead of expending resources just to manage huge chunks of IT infrastructure. The obvious benefits include faster time to value, adherence to regulatory, data privacy and governance requirements, low latency for on-premises applications and data and tight integration with network security requirements.

Globally several large enterprises from many different industries are already taking advantage of this cloud model. For example, AT&T, the world’s largest telecommunications company, has embraced this model to accelerate network transformation and cloud migration, expanding efficiency, performance and reducing cost while improving overall customer satisfaction. In the education space, the New York State University uses this solution to modernize the learning experience for students and staff.

Closer home, the State Bank of India, the country’s largest bank, has opted for this model and has started realising immense benefits – ranging from rapid provisioning to enjoying all the benefits of public cloud, and safeguarding sensitive customer data within their own premises.

If you can’t move to the cloud, it’s time to make the cloud come to you. Are you ready for this cloud leap?

The thoughts and opinions shared here are of the author.

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