Foregoing the All-Cloud Framework: Why Some Enterprises Are Opting for Hybrid Business Strategies

200204 cloud

When it comes to implementing a capable business framework in the dynamic world of digital transformation, considerations surrounding cost, efficiency, reliability, safety and beyond can lead enterprises in all sorts of directions. As of late, the business world has been redefined by mass movements to the cloud, and as this off-premises method grew mainstream, cloud adoption grew to a whopping 96 percent in 2018.

Yet, regardless of the benefits that enterprises hoped to gain by shifting workloads to a public or all-cloud framework—including cost savings, low maintenance requirements and quick setup—evolving demands are bringing forth a wave of organizations moving into more hybrid settings.

A Change of Heart

Findings from IDC’s 2019 Cloud Pulse survey of 400 respondents underscore the fact that repatriation activities, or moving workloads from the public cloud to an on-premises or private framework, are growing. In fact, the number of enterprises engaging in this action has increased to 85 percent, with the top three drivers being security, cost and performance.

Just as any other platform brings unique benefits and drawbacks, the public cloud is great for some types of applications and not ideal for others. To start, concerns surrounding the safety and reliability of this more public environment still pervade the IT sphere. In fact, the NetEnrich 2019 Cloud Adoption survey reportedthat out of 100 IT decision-makers in companies with 500 or more employees, 33 percent said security was their biggest concern when moving to cloud, and 20 percent said it was privacy. This consideration may make businesses reconsider where they keep their sensitive or mission-critical data, and they may find that their more private applications need a private location. At the same time, the public cloud does have an ability to scale capacity dynamically, and enterprises that find a need to leverage a lot of computing power over a short time (but don’t want to buy servers for just a couple of instances) will benefit from that.

The problem arises when businesses find that they may not have played to the public cloud’s strengths. When workloads that don’t function optimally in the public cloud are left to reside there, the costs of operation may start to creep up, forcing businesses to prioritize cost management. With surveys like this one showing that 86 percent of a pool of 200 decision-makers believe that improving cloud cost management by 2023 is either important or very important, it’s clear that cost considerations are becoming a big motivator to reallocate workloads. Underscoring this trend, the RightScale 2019 State of the Cloud survey — which is based on 786 respondents — reported that optimizing cloud costs is the top initiative in 2019 for the third year in a row, increasing to 64 percent from 58 percent in 2018.

Beyond the rising costs, the cloud’s performance just won’t cut it. It’s certainly possible that in the cloud frenzy, some enterprises weren’t aware of how to assess their needs or allocate workloads accordingly and just wanted to jump on the benefits quickly. Regardless, many organizations are starting to realize that there are better strategies out there, and they’re looking to hybridize their frameworks as a result.

A Rediscovered, Trusted Solution

Adopting a hybrid solution that leverages both public cloud and colocation services allows enterprises to allocate workloads between the cloud and the data center according to individual needs. Incorporating colocation also avoids the capital costs and demands that come with managing and operating a data center in-house. Colocating within a trusted data center facility enables businesses to maintain the benefits of outsourcing core infrastructure maintenance while leveraging customization capabilities that suit any redefined hybrid strategy. This way, enterprises enjoy cost savings, cloud connectivity, enhanced reliability and more. Of course, the best way to get an optimized colocation experience is by allying with a thoroughly competent and highly experienced data center partner.

At Data Foundry, we offer the depth of experience — more than two decades of it — and the advantageously equipped, purpose-built facilities that help ease the transition out of the cloud and empower businesses to maximize their application and workload potential. Whether the deployment requires a half cabinet or a private data hall, we deliver carrier-neutral, custom solutions and managed services that seamlessly accommodate any dynamic colocation footprint and requirement.

Our deeply-rooted dedication to high-touch service excellence means that partnerships begin even before any contracts are signed. We work closely with our clients to ensure all needs are met, and our designs are carefully curated to ensure that visions are not only thoroughly understood, but thoroughly delivered. Plus, dedicated technical account managers, remote hands and 24/7 in-house expert support are all on deck ready to enable augmented performance and support growth throughout any industry changes.

Times are changing, and while the public cloud certainly isn’t going away, concerns surrounding the costs, security and performance of all-cloud operations are on the rise. Now, it’s clear that some enterprises are rethinking their strategies.