Hybrid Cloud For Dummies

Combining Services to Create a Hybrid Cloud Environment

In most situations, companies large and small use a combination of public and private cloud services. A retail company may have a private cloud to support its highly distributed development organization, and it may also use a SaaS Human Resources public cloud application. In addition, to support its online commerce system, the company may leverage public commercial cloud services to ensure that customer service remains satisfactory during times of peak use, such as holidays. The same company might also create a private cloud application that it makes available to partners linking to its online sites.

This type of hybrid environment will become the standard way companies run IT in the future. A company will typically use public cloud services such as SaaS and various data services in conjunction with the private cloud. This development makes sense because increasingly companies are looking for a cost-effective, flexible, and optimized environment to support customers, partners, and suppliers.

When a company selects a hybrid path, the company takes on the responsibility for integration, security, manageability, and governance of the composite environment — including the public services that are included. If a problem arises with the public cloud provider, the responsibility lies with the private cloud provider — not the public ...