Cloud computing is now the core component of the modern technology ecosystem, for businesses of all sizes and kinds. Rather than investing in very costly hardware, enterprises are building out their IT infrastructure with heavily integrated and managed cloud architecture.

But what should an enterprise do while choosing and implementing the ideal cloud infrastructure for their ecosystem? It requires an in-depth understanding of the different cloud computing approaches enterprises can follow to enhance their workflow productivity and maximize results.

Why are enterprises actively choosing Cloud Computing?

Enterprise cloud computing, as we know it today, is not an old practice. It dates back to 19 years ago when Amazon Web Services (AWS) was launched in July 2002. Today, as more and more enterprises undergo digital transformation, they are opting for the flexibility and scalability of cloud computing. Other key driving factors include:

• Overall cost reduction.
• Better security.
• Time-saving.
• Scope of innovation.
• Disaster recovery solutions.

Types of enterprise cloud architecture

To choose the best cloud computing approach for your enterprise, let us understand the four main categories of cloud computing.

• Public:The most common cloud computing approach, public cloud services, are available over the internet for all those who subscribe. The most common public cloud service providers include Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and VMware Cloud on AWS. These cloud service providers are hosted by large companies with huge data centers to contain sizable virtual resources.

Public cloud can be the way to go for your enterprise, in cases like:

• Companies with fluctuating levels of utilization, without requiring governance or control over the data in situ, can opt for the public cloud.
• Applications in their development and testing phase work perfectly in a public cloud environment.
• Web applications are also good to host on the public cloud as the public cloud models have localized delivery, closer to the end user’s access point.
• Private: 

  For enterprises concerned about their data security, the private cloud offers better controls than the public cloud. The private cloud means dedicated usage of all hardware and software by any organization. While some enterprises develop their own private cloud infrastructure, some also collaborate with managed service providers who can host secure private cloud networking infrastructure. It is great for companies that deal with highly sensitive data or classified information.

  Private cloud can be a more expensive choice, but if your industry demands secrecy or other specific criteria to follow, private cloud is your way to go. Other conditions where private cloud can be the ideal selection, are:

  • As private cloud guarantees complete ownership of data, databases can be effectively stored there.
  • In a private cloud, you have complete control over your entire data stack.
  • Private clouds also enable companies to adopt intuitive GUI and simplified tools.
  • For organizations requiring more flexibility and scalability, private cloud computing makes sense.
• Hybrid:

To have a seamless, secure, and synced cloud environment, hybrid cloud computing or multiple deployment models are chosen. Hybrid cloud computing is a combination of private, public, and pre-existing on-premise infrastructure. All the separate instances have several integrations, yet they operate independently without any data leak from one system to another. It is entirely in the enterprise’s hands to decide which data, resources, and applications they want to keep in their private environment and what goes to the public cloud, and how these different sets of information interact.

The major benefit of hybrid infrastructure is that it offers speed and flexibility while also utilizing any pre-existing infrastructure that the enterprise may have. Hybrid cloud tends to be the go-to choice for many enterprises, for the following reasons:

• If you want to have an easily accessible private cloud infrastructure but also have disaster recovery needs, you can opt to save the less sensitive data on public clouds and pay for only the services that you use. A hybrid cloud can be very flexible and cost-effective.
• With the right hybrid combination, cloud adoption can get easier as it allows the enterprise to grow and innovate faster without moving entirely to the cloud environment.
• As privacy and security is a major concern with public cloud and private cloud can be very expensive, using a hybrid model and utilizing both resources as needed, is the ideal scenario.
• Another benefit of hybrid cloud model is cloud bursting. Cloud bursting refers to expanding to a public cloud during higher demands and scaling back to the original server when the surge is over. The additional public cloud resources are only rented for the time being.
• For Big Data organizations, hybrid cloud can help in personalizing their news, e-commerce, and social media promotions as per the user behavior.
• Hybrid cloud is also faster and greatly scalable, with potential for real-time interactions, improving the overall customer experience.
• Multi-cloud:

A more recent approach, multi-cloud computing strategy refers to using two or more (multiple) public clouds, as the name suggests. It is different from hybrid cloud computing as hybrid has both public or private deployment models, but multi-cloud uses two or more public clouds.

Multi-cloud can be the right choice for your enterprise, if:

• You have a strong on-premise infrastructure that you need to expand with public networks.
• As price-competitive cloud services, multi-cloud aligns with the speed, capacity, and scalability requirements of your enterprise.
• For enterprises that have rapidly changing business requirements such as major surges during a particular season, multi-cloud infrastructure can be beneficial.
• Multi-cloud is also a good approach for industries that cannot afford downtime due to any failure in a localized infrastructure.

What should be your pick?

If your company has long postponed cloud migration, maybe it is now time to actively start working on it. For the best cloud computing approach for your enterprise, you must thoroughly go through the implications of each type. Create a list of services that you wish to avail of from your cloud computing strategy.
Following the best match for your enterprise can also include an organization-centric approach, along with a workload-centric approach. So, pick out that one cloud computing approach for your enterprise, and be ready to transform your business through enterprise cloud computing.