Businesses need their IT infrastructure to be both flexible and scalable. Don’t forget about security. Your IT infrastructure must meet all industry standards and this isn’t always easy. To accomplish these lofty goals, organizations are turning to hybrid cloud networks. Do you know that around 73% of businesses benefit from hybrid cloud environments? While the advantages of a hybrid cloud network can’t be overstated, businesses can also run into challenges. If you’re not sure if a hybrid cloud is the right solution for your business, here’s a look at some of the benefits you may be missing out on. We’re also looking at the potential challenges and how you can get over these hurdles.
Understanding Hybrid Cloud Networking
Before we get into the benefits and challenges of hybrid cloud networking, it helps to understand what it is. A hybrid cloud combines features of both public and private clouds.
So, what you get is a virtual IT network that can scale up or down to meet current business needs. This flexibility can boost team productivity and collaboration, Both of which typically benefit your business.
Best of all, it comes with the security features your business needs to meet industry compliance regulations.
Benefits of Hybrid Cloud Networking
So, now you know it has the scalability of a public cloud and the security of a private cloud. However, this doesn’t accurately describe the benefits your organization can get from hybrid cloud networking.
Reduce Costs
A hybrid cloud allows your organization to allocate resources as necessary. You can use services from a public cloud for your company’s non-sensitive tasks. When data security is paramount, you can easily switch over to a private cloud.
Since you’re only using the services you need for a specific task, you can see significant savings. You can invest these savings back into your business to address other issues like growing your company and reaching a larger target audience.
Flexibility
A key buzzword for businesses of almost any type is flexibility. Things can change in an instant and business owners, along with their staff, must be able to meet any challenges as they pop up. Flexibility also applies to how your team works. Different workloads have various requirements and the standards can be tough to meet without a flexible IT network.
With networking, you have access to public and private cloud services. When security is a priority, you have the flexibility to use private cloud services to keep data safe and meet industry compliance requirements. If a task calls for collaboration across multiple departments, you can hop over to a public cloud. With hybrid cloud networking, you can switch between services as needed.
Scalability
Your employees’ workload is constantly changing, sometimes more than once a week or it may even be a daily occurrence. You can easily scale your resources up or down, depending on the task.
When a task demands access to more features, your hybrid cloud network is ready. For example, you may need more resources during a seasonal sale and less when the promotion is over. Scalability also ties into cost-effectiveness since you’re only paying for the services you need at a specific time.
Boost Security
Your business data is the lifeblood of your company. No, this isn’t an exaggeration. Even if you’re only storing customers’ email addresses, you don’t want the information to end up compromised. Without the stored email addresses, how are you going to create an effective marketing campaign?
However, most businesses deal with protected data. If your business accepts credit and debit cards, you probably have personal protected information (PPI), and this is strictly regulated.
If a security breach occurs, your business may be hit with regulatory fines and other penalties. This is before your brand takes a hit from the public. Consumers typically lose trust in a brand after a security breach occurs. Getting consumers’ trust back is difficult and some businesses never fully recover from a data breach.
This environment helps ensure data is protected from unauthorized users. You can take advantage of security features found in a private cloud to help keep your business data safe from would-be hackers.
Potential Challenges of a Hybrid Cloud Network
While it comes with plenty of advantages that can benefit your business, organizations can also run into a few challenges. Thankfully, overcoming these hurdles usually isn’t too difficult, especially when you know what to look for.
Integrating a Hybrid Cloud Network
You may not run into this issue if your existing IT infrastructure is up-to-date. However, if you’re using legacy equipment be prepared for a few challenges. You may run into issues with compatibility.
Not all legacy systems are compatible with hybrid cloud technology. This is when you ask if it’s worth the expense to update your existing IT equipment. Chances are, the answer is yes, especially after considering the benefits.
Not only will modern IT equipment help ensure you’re compatible with the hybrid cloud model, but also with other applications your business may want to take advantage of.
Network Connectivity
This usually isn’t a huge challenge for most businesses. Almost all businesses, regardless of size, are connected to the internet. This is a requirement for hybrid cloud networking. If connectivity is down, you can’t access your hybrid cloud. This can bring operations grinding to a halt until connectivity is restored.
As we noted earlier, this is rarely an issue but it’s something to consider. If your business is connected via satellite, you may run into issues with temporarily slow internet speeds or loss of Wi-Fi access.
Boost Your Business’s Efficiency with Hybrid Cloud Networking
Even though it can present a few challenges, the benefits typically outweigh any potential hurdles. Hybrid cloud networking can boost data security, improve collaboration, and give you a scalable work solution.
If you’re ready to learn more about the benefits of hybrid cloud networking, contact an authorized service provider and find out how the cloud can help your business grow.
