Sabelo Mabena
The digital age offers a new level of data-informed decision-making, where organisations use vast amounts of information to gain insights, optimise operations, and drive innovation. However, the data storage and management landscape has become increasingly complex. Businesses must adopt a hybrid approach that combines on-premises infrastructure, private clouds, and public cloud platforms.
This hybrid model offers flexibility and scalability. Yet, it also brings unique challenges. Vodacom Business supports thousands of clients in designing and managing their hybrid-cloud strategies. As such we have gathered several insights,including barriers of entry such as Egress and Ingress connectivity costs. While the likes of Microsoft and Amazon Web Services have done away with these, other hyperscalers still insist on charging for them. We advise our customers on these potential sundry costs beforehand in relation todownstream bill shocks.
The hybrid cloud landscape
Future-minded businesses rely on cloud technologies to improve their agility and create value through efficiency and productivity. According to research firm Gartner,nearly three-quarters of enterprise services will soon run on cloud systems.
Digital technologies, including cloud systems, are building blocks. No two organisations have the same requirements. They need different technology combinations to achieve their data goals, using on-premises systems, private clouds, and public clouds.
On-premises infrastructure provides control and security for sensitive data, while private clouds offer greater customisation and regulatory compliance. Public clouds deliver scalability, cost-efficiency, and access to various services. By combining these environments, organisations can optimise and tailor their infrastructure to their specific requirements. A hybrid cloud is any such combination.
Choosing the right cloud design
While companies usually have clear ambitions for using cloud technologies for their data, they tend to get stuck when selecting the best combination.
The reason is simple: on-premises, private, public, and hybrid are not where companies should focus their attention. Instead, they should approach their options in terms of software, platform, and infrastructure.
One can divide technology environments into those three areas. Software represents the services and applications that users engage with. Platform is the layer where technologies combine (orchestrate) to deliver services and where software development happens. Infrastructure is the ‘machinery’ of technology: the hardware and operating systems that make things run.
Think of a laptop:
- The device is the infrastructure.
- The operating system is the platform.
- The applications that run on it are the software.
Cloud systems are revolutionary because they separate these three areas into services, called Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS). These allow companies to access each level without the burdens of ownership. For example, with IaaS, they access third-party infrastructure they do not need to own and maintain, instead paying just for what they use.
How does this work in practice? In every scenario, businesses control their data and just need the right systems to exploit it. Here are a few use-case examples:
- They own the software but do not want to own the underlying operating system or hardware: use PaaS and IaaS on a public cloud provider.
- They own the software and operating system but not the infrastructure: use IaaS on a private cloud provider.
- They do not want to own the software, operating system, or infrastructure: use SaaS on a public cloud service.
- They want to control everything: use on-premises.
Use a partner with experience
These four examples cover the basic combinations of modern technology systems. Yet, the details matter. If your data needs advanced layers of security, the right IaaS service might be better than going on-premises. If you need your data accessible through customised business software, PaaS on a public cloud might be better than hosting the software in a private cloud.
Companies can waste a lot of time trying to find the best combinations. Vodacom Business has years of experience partnering with customers to develop technology solutions that suit their data and business needs.
We can guide you towards the best results, making your data work for you to meet your requirements and budgetat a scale and pace that reflects the value you expect.
Sabelo Mabena is Executive Head of Cloud, Hosting and Security at Vodacom Business. He writes in his personal capacity.
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