Hybrid Cloud Trends To Watch In The Coming Years!

One thing that we love about spy movies like Mission: Impossible or James Bond is that the spies always use the latest technology to save the world. Additionally, they get to enjoy the lavish luxuries of life all paid for by their well-funded organizations. #TheSpyLife

Let’s say, for example, they have to spy on a target who’s residing in a hotel. Here, they can use binoculars to keep an eye on them from afar, without being noticed. If it’s too far, they can tap into the hotel’s CCTV footage to monitor movements to gather intel. What we’re trying to say is that for almost every function, they have a range of options that can be used, based on their unique requirements.

Sometimes, they need to use such technology in tandem with each other to achieve their goal. Let’s say the target leaves the hotel, then the spy might find it difficult to track them using CCTV. This is where a spy satellite would be handy but oh no – the target is now in a multi-storey car park – so the spy resorts to binoculars.

Essentially, as new methods are invented, they’re incorporated to bring out better results.

It’s the same case with Hybrid Cloud infrastructure. This technology helps businesses handle and use their data effectively. Yet, it has witnessed a shift in how it can be utilized over time, as new technologies and trends appear.

This is why we’re gathered here today, to look at the upcoming trends in hybrid cloud and what it has in store for us. So, read on and enjoy!

What Are Hybrid Clouds And How Do They Work?

Just as some spies and their associates are on a need-to-know basis, much of organizational data is on a need-to-know basis. This is one of the reasons businesses use hybrid cloud infrastructure.

Essentially, hybrid clouds offer them the best of both worlds. It brings with it the scalability and flexibility of the cloud along with the control and security of on-premises infrastructure. This way, they can control their data while scaling across the globe for other processes.  

 
Hybrid cloud infrastructure can comprise of a variety of different environments, which can be used in combinations. The different kinds of infrastructure include:
 

• Legacy On-premises

  Here the infrastructure is physically on location and is used by an internal network. The cloud network can be opened to a cloud hosting service.

• On-premises Private Cloud

  Here the infrastructure’s equipment is kept on location and used by only one organization and its scattered branches.

• Privately Hosted Cloud

  Here the physical infrastructure is not stored at the business’ location as it is managed and hosted by a third party.

• Public Cloud

  Here the computing and infrastructure are handled by a third party and the resources are shared with other organizations. It is accessed using a public internet connection.

After learning about the types of hybrid clouds, let’s see how they can help you!

What Are The Benefits Of Hybrid Cloud?

“Hybrid infrastructure's flexibility empowers businesses to process real-time data, facilitating faster decisions through the distributed model of edge computing,” says Mukesh Ranjan, VP of Cloud and Infrastructure, Everest Group.

This highlights only one benefit that businesses get from Hybrid Cloud infrastructure. The others include:
 

• Agility, Scalability And Speed

  Hybrid cloud infrastructure helps boost the delivery speed of IT resources, such as storage space or additional computational power being delivered in a few minutes instead of hours or months. This allows businesses to scale their operations up or down, while fostering agility to rapidly develop, test and launch applications using real-time data.

• Control And Flexibility

  Instead of banking on the ability and resilience of third-party IT infrastructure for all your data, leveraging hybrid cloud solutions will allow you to dictate what kind of data or information is stored and accessed in the cloud and on private servers. This way, you don’t have to share trade secrets on cloud servers but ensure data that needs to be shared is, with the option of adjusting controls in the future.

• Security

  Talking about sensitive information, hybrid clouds enable IT teams to incorporate several safeguards while sharing data. Another avenue of this takes place when migrating data across the hybrid environment, which is done by containers or encrypted APIs through a centralized management system. Hence, businesses can leverage encryption, automation and access control to protect data.

• Reliability

  All businesses prioritize continuity and to ensure critical functions are maintained during emergencies, they leverage Disaster Recovery (DR), which focuses on restoring data access and IT infrastructure post-disaster. Hybrid Cloud aids disaster recovery efforts by integrating local storage with cloud resources, facilitating data backup and replication for faster recovery, ensuring data integrity and reliability.

• Cost Efficiency

  Hybrid clouds help reduce expenses related to the expansion of data centers and other hardware. They enable efficient usage of resources across public and private clouds and leverage pay-as-you-go models to enhance cost-effectiveness and avoid vendor lock-ins, leading to lower costs.

• Compliance

  Hybrid cloud environments help businesses comply with the laws and regulations of different countries by offering clarity on how data can be replicated, encrypted and stored. Hence, hybrid clouds enable better compliance strategies for global businesses.

 

Top Trends Shaping Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure

Just like Ethan Hunt from the Mission: Impossible series and the IMF (Impossible Missions Force) outfit that he works for, spies and their organizations need to adjust their strategies to cater to changes. The only way to win the game is to stay ahead of the competition and the way to do that is to keep up with the latest trends!

Almost every technology, service or software undergoes improvements and changes to enhance its effectiveness and smart businesses heed changing tides to ensure they’re prepared for what lies ahead to continue smooth sailing. Hybrid cloud infrastructure is no different and here’s what businesses can look forward to:
 

• Increased Adoption Across Industries

  We've already seen what advantages and benefits a hybrid cloud strategy brings businesses. However, it’s not just businesses that are turning to it, as industries such as banking and finance, healthcare, retail and manufacturing, even government agencies are planning to adopt the technology. This is thanks to agility, flexibility, cost-efficiency and improved security and compliance brought by hybrid clouds. For example, it helps the healthcare sector with telehealth initiatives and patient data sharing. At the same time, retail businesses can enhance their supply chains and personalization efforts with the cloud.

• Integration Of AI And Machine Learning

  We’ve reached the inevitable where no spy will be safe from it – we’re talking about Artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)! AI is finding itself incorporated into almost every process and is bringing better management to hybrid cloud environments, while also leveraging algorithms that can analyze and optimize cloud application performance. Additionally, AI/ML is facilitating better data management and analytics to unlock stronger insights.

• Advancements In Cloud Technology

  Cloud technology itself is changing and improving, which will encourage more users to adopt hybrid cloud solutions. These enhancements include the widescale adoption of technology like containers and Kubernetes, which simplify application deployment and management. Furthermore, technology like serverless computing will help remove the need to manage servers, 5G will bring high-speed connectivity to support real-time applications and language-agnostic, open-source platforms will simplify the management of cloud applications by supporting diverse application architectures.

• Growth In Edge Computing Integration

  Faster connectivity and simplified application management will foster an increase in edge computing integrations. This will bring data processing closer to its source location, allowing businesses to analyze and process critical data at the edge in real time for time-sensitive tasks. This will also help save costs and data transmission bandwidth, especially for the automotive and manufacturing industries.

• Customizable And Flexible Cloud Solutions

  Personalization helps businesses deliver better experiences to their customers. However, businesses also look for personalized solutions to foster cost efficiencies and process enhancements. This will come in the form of customizable and flexible cloud solutions tailored to the specific requirements of businesses, creating highly personalized cloud environments. Such customizations will further boost security, performance and compliance across industries.

• Improved Security And Compliance Measures

  One of the most important aspects across any kind of infrastructure or deployment is security. As hybrid cloud solutions become more complex, there will arise the need for better security. As a result, better encryption techniques, robust identity and access management and stronger threat detection tools will be introduced. Ahead of this, more focused compliance methods will be designed and implemented that cater to the unique uses of hybrid cloud environments.

That’s all for now, folks!
 

Mission Complete

It’s safe to say, that managing cloud data and infrastructure won’t be a “mission impossible” for you with the advancements made in cloud technology. The growing adoption of hybrid cloud environments comes with a multitude of benefits, some of which were nicely summed up by Darrin Alves, the CIO of JPMorgan Chase, who said, “With the growing complexity of cybersecurity threats, operating in more than one cloud helps insulate a company from the concentrated risk of a single provider.”
 
In fact, further innovations in the sector will bring in enhanced capabilities in terms of automation, orchestration and unified management across multiple cloud services. We hope this article helped you understand the top trends in hybrid cloud computing in the near future!