Choosing the right cloud computing model
Wednesday, November 30, 2011 11:39:12 AM
One of the first decisions an executive needs to make when considering deploying cloud computing services in his or her enterprise is which model would work best for his or her specifc purposes. The options are currently public, private or hybrid cloud models, and each has its own strengths, benefits and drawbacks, making the collaboration with internal IT departments imperative to successful adoption.
For example, while the public cloud offers broader accessibility and far lower costs than its private and hybrid counterparts, it is not as strong in terms of security. The private cloud allows executives to more stringently regulate access to information, making the process of ironing out best practices an on-going and weighty task. Additionally, the private cloud typically costs more than the public.
The hybrid cloud model has been growing in popularity, especially among industries and organizations with higher security requirements, as well as those that conduct business internationally with multiple locations. The ability to restrict access while still hosting data in a centralized fashion, along with the cost benefits of pay-per-use and lack of hardware maintenance, have made the hybrid model a formidable option.
The Fiji Times recently published an article explaining that executive are most concerned with the ability to transfer mass data and applications to cloud computing services. According to the source, this will depend on each given organization's requirements for security, accessibility and more.
If a company wants to save money by using a public Software-as-a-Service-based email system, but needs to keep some data in a highly secure and private central location, the hybrid cloud can be of specific use. For some industries, such as healthcare, many deployments will likely continue to be private systems, as the sector is highly regulated.
The U.S. Government's policies regarding cloud deployment serve as a good example of the use of multiple models for specific functions. The U.S. General Services Administration announced earlier this year that it had moved its email services to cloud-based SaaS systems, a shift that it expects to save more than $15 million over the next five years.
The source adds that the hybrid option would likely spell the most comprehensive and difficult shift of them all, as the process of creating a service level agreement that matches all of the minute details needed by the client will be the most complex of the three models.
-McAfee Cloud Security
