Expert: Private cloud has specific advantages

Monday, December 19, 2011 6:08:06 PM

Cloud computing can also be confusing for businesses and IT decision-makers who aren't knowledgeable on the subject, but luckily there are several ways that adopters can learn about the different types of clouds.

In a Windows IT Pro report, Michael Otey, president of software-development and consulting firm TECA, answers some of the most frequent questions regarding private cloud computing, which allows companies to control the cloud in-house.

According to Otey, the private cloud is different than the public cloud in that "the public cloud includes resources that you lease from a cloud hosting provider and the private cloud consists of your on-premises computing resources."

Additionally, Otey said the private cloud is more than virtualization because it combines service-based management, the power to automate operations and end-user capabilities into one solution, while virtualization is mainly about transitioning workloads off of physical hardware.

According to a recent survey by an internet security provider, 75 percent of organizations are at least discussing adopting private or hybrid cloud technology. Meanwhile, 36 percent of surveyed companies have used the private cloud for Storage-as-a-Service, the report said.