Hybrid Cloud Streamlines Your Data, Centralizes Networking
The benefits afforded while leveraging the cloud continue to drive demand, yet decision makers everywhere are still concerned with protecting data. The hybrid cloud is becoming a popular choice for small- to mid-size businesses as they search for ways to streamline efficiency through the cloud, while also keeping a tight grasp on their information.

Even as far back as 2014, a Techaisle survey indicated that the hybrid cloud was gaining momentum, with 18 percent of businesses with between one and 99 employees utilizing a hybrid solution for networking. Among companies with up to 999 employees, the hybrid cloud was being used by 32 percent.

Today, the adoption of private cloud solutions is on a strong path for growth, with an increase from 63 percent to 77 percent between 2015 and 2016. This growth has contributed to year-over-year increases in hybrid cloud utilization from 58 percent to 71 percent in the same period.

Such growth suggests there are opportunities for your organization to take advantage of hybrid benefits, with getting started as the biggest challenge. How can you navigate your transition to a hybrid cloud solution? Here are a few suggestions for the best integration of public and private cloud solutions:

Create an integration plan. Companies need to think strategically about how to best integrate data for a hybrid cloud solution. IT managers should integrate applications, but there’s more to consider. You should also evaluate which services require integration and which should be processed in a hybrid solution. Don’t forget that you’ll also need some integration across the company and with public data sources, such as social media and other third-party sites.

Set up on-site data storage. You’ll want storage for your data on premise in order to meet regulations if your industry dictates this move. A bonus – it may even boost your software performance.

Prioritize operational visibility and management. Your IT managers need to be able to see the various applications you’re running, including public and third-party offerings, in order to fully manage the hybrid cloud network and troubleshoot when a problem occurs. This means installing a platform that allows them to see the underlying infrastructure.

Use workload management tools. Relying on hybrid cloud storage and computing services means that you’ll need to monitor the workloads on both your private and public applications to determine the best environment for each one.

Develop a security strategy. You need to be able to move cloud applications between private and public environments as you determine what best fits the needs of your team. Fortunately, the increasing containerization of applications on the cloud means that this is getting easier for IT departments to manage.

The good news is you don’t have to navigate your transition into a hybrid solution alone. eXemplify is ready to guide you to your destination, where public and private cloud applications provide a smooth, seamless storage and computing solution to meet your needs. Contact us to learn more about getting the most out of your Verizon solutions.