Private and Public Cloud: Getting the Balance Right

The huge number of potential benefits the cloud can bring to businesses has undoubtedly driven its popularity. Increased operational agility, enhanced flexibility and having the capacity and bandwidth to scale up and down are just some of the profitable perks. For early adopters of the cloud, security was also an enticing reason to migrate; business could save money by cutting back on cyber-security professionals, knowing public cloud providers were managing their data safely. Unsurprisingly, new research from the Cloud Industry Forum suggests the cloud adoption rate in the UK is currently 88%, with 67% of users expecting to increase their use of cloud services in 2018. However, the innovative early adaptors are facing an issue due to a shift in security requirements and complexity: the public cloud is no longer able to fulfil their requirements. Is cloud enterprise ready? There’s now a real concern in the industry that many enterprise cloud services are not actually ‘enterprise ready’. A recent article by cyber security news site Dark Reading indicated that 95% of cloud services used in the average enterprise are not enterprise-ready from a security standpoint. By using unsecured applications, your sensitive corporate data could be exposed without your organisation even realising it. The vast amounts of data now stored in the public cloud are becoming increasingly attractive to cyber criminals; this has been made apparent through the recent increase in severity and frequency of data breaches, affecting even high-profile organisations. Although many public cloud providers are stepping-up control and security precautions, it’s ultimately the responsibility of the enterprise to protect its data in the cloud. Is hybrid the answer? Some early adopters of public cloud may now consider turning to a private solution, due to its greater security offering; however, it is hybrid that allows businesses to create a model that mixes and matches both cloud services to meet their unique requirements. With the expected hybrid cloud market reported set to almost triple by 2021, it is a model more and more organisations are seeking to employ so they can blend legacy IT, increase speed, agility and flexibility; and accelerate continuous innovation. A hybrid solution provides the ideal answer for organisations, offering a flexible, best-fit mix to meet even the most complex requirements. However, planning is essential as hybrid cloud can require particular design to combine a business’s platform with a cloud environment. SCC provides a comprehensive range of cloud solutions. We understand your data and deliver solutions that strike a balance between security, cost and control. Discover more about our Cloud Services