Cloud Computing Options: Private Cloud – Faction Inc.
What are the biggest benefits of a private cloud solution? What are its advantages over the public cloud? These are the questions a company might be asking as it considers investing in a private cloud infrastructure service. It’s important to weigh the options when it comes to hosting data and applications either in the cloud or on physical servers. The benefits of cloud computing are virtually endless. The private cloud is one option for businesses within the wide range of solutions to their computing issues, and it offers distinct advantages over a hybrid or public cloud solution.
“Since deployment takes place without physical servers, maintenance and scaling become easier and cheaper.”
Increased business agility and cost savings
A cloud privately tailored to an organization can deliver all the advantages of cloud computing in an environment that can operate according to strict compliance rules and corporate governance. In other words, the private cloud allows companies to be more agile with their computing while at the same time maintaining strict security and compliance.
According to a 2014 survey conducted by FT Remark of enterprises in Europe, about 60 percent of respondents at cloud-enabled businesses said that at least some part of their cloud was private.
“With the help of cloud, we will be able to integrate departments more completely,” said one respondent. “For us, the right choice is putting relevant departments on a private cloud, so that the sharing of data, projects and important information is done in a secure way.”
InfoWorld contributor David Linthicum recently stressed the importance of choosing a cloud solution based on the current needs of a business, instead of investing in a hybrid cloud option from the get-go and ending up not needing the infrastructure later.
“Picking an approach simply because it provides you with options down the road is always the wrong plan,” Linthicum said.
The point of Linthicum’s argument is that in order to maximize cost savings, just choosing a hybrid cloud without first thinking about future effects is not the proper solution to the cloud computing dilemma. According to TechTarget, cost savings can be reaped from privately hosted enterprise cloud computing; since deployment takes place without the physical servers required by traditional computing, maintenance and scaling are made easier and cheaper.
Where to go from here?
Once organizations realize the benefits of the private cloud, the next step is determining how to best utilize it. One good option is to have a private IaaS cloud solution. Global spending on infrastructure-as-a-service cloud offerings will likely reach $16.5 billion in 2015, according to recent estimates from research firm Gartner. However, analysts cautioned in a recent report that the nature of the IaaS market is in a continual state of change and that companies should take care of the services they choose to invest in.
“Cloud IaaS can now be used to run most workloads, although not every provider can run every type of workload well,” said Lydia Leong, vice president of Gartner. “Although in theory cloud IaaS has very little lock-in, in truth cloud IaaS is not merely a matter of hardware rental, but an entire data center ecosystem as a service. The more you use its management capabilities, the more value you will receive from the offering, but the more you will be tied to that particular service offering.”