6 ways to maximize the value of hybrid cloud
Best Practices
IT professionals have long debated the merits of private versus public cloud. But the rising prominence of hybrid cloud has shifted the conversation to how businesses can harness the combined power of both infrastructures.
A hybrid infrastructure offers organizations increased flexibility, scalability, and efficiency. Given the advantages of hybrid, it’s not surprising that 86% of organizations plan to increase their investment in hybrid or multicloud this year. Yet despite the growing preference for a hybrid approach, few organizations have optimized their hybrid cloud strategies — leaving cost savings and innovation opportunities on the table.
The untapped potential of hybrid infrastructure
Many organizations rushed to move workloads to the cloud without an effective data center exit strategy or a comprehensive cloud migration plan. Consequently, many of the organizations that have since adopted hybrid cloud are now navigating a hodgepodge of siloed applications, often running in sub-optimal environments.
It’s also common for businesses to adopt hybrid cloud, but continue to leverage two separate strategies for their public and private clouds. Though it may not seem like a big deal, ineffective hybrid infrastructure management can result in issues like technical sprawl, siloed teams, and disjointed service delivery, which can cause the organization’s total cost of ownership (TCO) to skyrocket.
On the other hand, strategic management of your hybrid IT infrastructure can unlock unparalleled agility and flexibility for your business. By harnessing the enhanced security and bespoke configurations of private cloud alongside the cost-effectiveness and scalability of public cloud, you can tailor your IT environment to meet evolving business needs.
Hybrid cloud is here to stay, so it’s time to take a step back and rethink your approach — no matter where your organization is on the road to hybrid proficiency.
Honing your hybrid cloud strategy
To maximize returns from your hybrid infrastructure, you need a strategy that addresses disparities in teams, tools, and processes. By breaking down internal silos and embracing change, you can leave siloed operations and assets in the past and optimize your IT environment to fuel growth and transformation for your business.
1. Embrace a modernized operating model.
A lack of alignment among internal teams can quickly undermine your hybrid cloud optimization efforts. For example, maybe your legacy teams still operate using a waterfall model while public cloud teams prefer an agile approach — with both teams relying on disparate tools and processes.
To achieve true organizational alignment, you have to bridge the cultural and operational divides between modern cloud and legacy teams. This shift involves establishing and nurturing a mindset that embraces continuous improvement so everyone is working toward shared goals. And by encouraging ongoing communication among teams, you can continuously reevaluate your hybrid cloud strategy to ensure it’s delivering the anticipated ROI.
2. Run workloads in their optimal environment.
Organizations often run applications in sub-optimal locations due to tightly coupled legacy systems, outdated codebases, or even cultural resistance to change. There are certainly valid reasons to avoid moving an application, e.g., to comply with regulatory requirements. But it’s time to stop letting factors like complexity and perceived risk prevent you from running workloads in the best possible place.
By re-architecturing applications and adopting cloud native capabilities, you can equip legacy applications to thrive in modern cloud environments. As a result, you can run web-based applications like an e-commerce platform in your more scalable and flexible public cloud, and transaction-heavy applications like an order management system in your more controlled private cloud. Your applications will operate more efficiently, reducing operational and maintenance costs.
3. Understand your latency and resiliency risks.
Some business-critical applications absolutely must run in your organization’s data center. For example, an electronic health records system that handles sensitive data and requires high availability and security might be too risk-sensitive to reside in the cloud. What’s different today is that the systems of engagement (e.g., a patient portal mobile app) no longer have to sit directly next to the core system in order to avoid latency issues.
So, you may have applications in your data center that communicate with key systems of record, but could move to the cloud without sacrificing performance. It’s difficult to determine an application’s level of communication dependency or how sensitive the associated systems are to latency impact. The right hybrid cloud partner can help you understand these issues and mitigate latency risk before you make the move toward a hybrid infrastructure.
4. Drive decision-making with data.
Regulatory and compliance demands necessitate a certain degree of separation between various datasets. But many data silos exist in legacy systems for reasons that are avoidable, such as disjointed data initiatives or a lack of internal IT expertise. If this sounds familiar, it’s time to consider unifying your data in an intelligent data platform.
When you bring together disparate data sources, you can leverage machine learning and AI tools that squeeze more value out of your data. And by investing in the right predictive analytics tools, you can power faster and better decision-making.
5. Minimize IT complexity and technical debt.
Without visibility into your entire IT ecosystem, technical debt can quickly stifle growth and agility. The accumulation of technical debt and IT complexity often leads to increased operational costs and downtime.
Application and data modernization is essential for reducing IT complexity, minimizing technical debt, and achieving seamless cloud connectivity — but it can be difficult to know where to start. Experienced hybrid cloud partners can help you gain visibility into your workload components and identify optimization opportunities that help you operate more efficiently and cost effectively.
6. Turn cost savings into hybrid cloud success.
It’s important to remember that hybrid cloud optimization is an ongoing process, not a one-off initiative. By starting your journey with small-scale projects that aim to reduce costs, eliminate downtime, and operate more efficiently, you can reinvest cost savings in future transformation.
Ensono is your trusted partner for hybrid cloud optimization
Employing hybrid cloud is one thing. Optimizing your hybrid infrastructure is an entirely different challenge. With Ensono, navigating hybrid doesn’t have to be a headache. From re-architecturing applications to helping pinpoint latency risks, Ensono has the public and private cloud expertise you need to glean the advantages each infrastructure offers.
Speak with our experts to learn more about how you can get the most from your hybrid cloud.