A good example here is how sales and marketing have evolved to take advantage of hybrid cloud services. Many companies have seen the benefits of using a public cloud with services such as SugarCRM and Salesforce.com, but businesses may not want to place all of their sales information on a public cloud.
In this scenario a private cloud offers the necessary levels of security, but does not impose any undue security protocols onto the sales teams. From a system administrator's point of view, a hybrid cloud approach makes the most sense.
Planning for a private cloud
Developing a private cloud should be approached with all the due diligence expected of any major structural change to a business. The key questions to ask include:
1.Does your company already have the infrastructure needed to deliver the services you want to develop over a private cloud? If not, what is the level of capital cost needed?
2.Have you clearly defined your goals? What do you want a private cloud to do for your enterprise?
3.How much virtualisation has your business already carried out? Remember that this is only the first step to developing a private cloud within your business.
4.Will a hybrid approach be needed to ensure that any existing public cloud services in use can be used in association with the private cloud you envisage?
5.Is there a clear business case for developing a private cloud service? Would expanding your existing use of IaaS and SaaS deliver the efficiencies you are looking for?
6.Have the levels of security that would be needed to manage either a standalone private cloud or a hybrid approach been fully assessed?
As an asset, a private cloud can deliver a number of operational and commercial benefits. But it's vital to clearly understand your company's motivation for building one, and to ensure that it integrates seamlessly with every other part of your business's IT infrastructure.
