Successfully Structuring Your Hybrid Cloud

The cloud provides a variety of benefits that are particularly attractive for small- to mid-size businesses. It’s easily scalable, more affordable than on-site software, and updates are a comparative breeze. Companies implementing a hybrid cloud concept, though, often end up with certain complications.

Every company using a hybrid cloud solution needs a methodical approach to management in order to prevent usage from spiraling out of control. Otherwise, costs can skyrocket and you quickly lose the benefits that initially attracted you to cloud software and storage.

Here are a few considerations to include in your evaluation for a data-driven hybrid cloud management plan:

Have a plan in place. Before launching into hybrid cloud use, you need a clear path for decision-making so that determining what goes in the cloud is never a subjective decision. Have a strategy to make it clear who makes the decision and what procedure will be followed to transfer a workload to the cloud.

If you work in certain industries, including financial advising, management, or health care, there may be regulations and limits on what’s considered secure when it comes to leveraging the cloud. Be sure to include any industry constraints in your strategy.

Determine which workloads are a good fit. It’s critical to have an informed plan about which workloads match well with the benefits of the cloud. For instance, certain security, regulatory, and privacy risks may make some workloads ineligible for cloud use.

You can also take into consideration the workload pattern to determine whether it’s a good fit. Workloads that are batch-processed at a few hours per week, and are turned off when they are not being processed, can be a good choice for hybrid cloud usage. By contrast, a workload that is transactional and varies widely in utilization could be a costly choice for the cloud.

Figure out what you truly need. On-site software tends to run beyond optimal needs, yet when companies implement a cloud transition, they often skip the analysis of their requirements and create a like-for-like environment. This assumes that their previous situation was ideal and cost-efficient.

Instead, enterprises need to take the time to determine their actual needs and match them to the cloud offering that improves their efficiency, security, and costs. You need to establish workload benchmarks and use these to normalize the analysis of your processes to see what’s required of your hybrid solution.

Don’t consider it done. Once you’ve completed the first stage of your transition to the hybrid cloud, don’t sit back and assume you’re all set. You need to engage in continual optimization of your software, ensuring you have the right combination of public and private cloud applications, as well as on-premise software.

When you’re ready to make a smart transition to the hybrid cloud, call on the expertise of AMD Technology. We walk with you through the entire implementation process, helping you determine your needs and create a comprehensive plan for smart cloud management.