Increasingly, cloud computing is becoming a major component of the technology and business strategy for companies of all sizes. Smart companies are quickly adapting to this change and moving computing resources to the cloud. This shift lowers cost by reducing the need to maintain infrastructure and it increases competitive edge by enabling organizations to take advantage of potentially unlimited computational and storage resources available in the cloud. Cloud computing provides a way to pay only for what is needed, when it is needed, rather than trying to forecast capacity. Furthermore, the move enables greater collaboration and mobility for workers who no longer need to be tied to their office desk to access and work with company data and applications.
Should all data be in the cloud?
This is a common question and a common issue faced by many companies. Public cloud resources are extremely useful as their potential capacity is essentially limitless. The provider is responsible for planning, building and maintaining the infrastructure. This capacity means that storage requirements are not a concern, and the processing capacity required to crunch this data is available when needed. However, there are very real concerns for based on legacy systems as well as security and privacy of key data assets. There are a number of different options here, depending on the particular needs and constraints of the organization.
PRIVATE CLOUD
One solution is to use what is known as a Private Cloud. This is a cloud instance completely separate from any other cloud users, giving total control to the owner. While generally more complex, it allows for the same interface and seamless integration with the public cloud, but with full control and ownership of the data and processing.
HYBRID CLOUD
A second, very powerful option is to combine the power of public and private cloud to form a Hybrid Cloud. This allows a company to host their own private cloud, with all of the benefits and control it provides, but still make use of the lower cost and complexity of the public cloud for less sensitive data and operations. Work can be performed in public or private environments, or work may be performed to anonymize data for processing on the public side. Jobs and reports use data where and when they are needed, with the appropriate level of control.
ON-PREMISES
The cloud is a fantastic tool and its use will increase dramatically over time, but for many reasons – such as performance, existing assets, legacy procedures, privacy and security – not all data and computing needs to be, or should be, in the cloud. Traditional relational databases and data warehouses are still critical to any business and the most ideal solution will be a mixture of cloud and on-premises computing. Modern database management systems and data warehouses are fully equipped to bridge the gap between relational data (i.e. traditional) and non-relational (i.e. Big Data) data, providing a means to store and process data wherever it makes the most sense, in or out of the cloud.
Moving to the Cloud
We offer a wide range of services including:
- Custom cloud application development
- Application modernization
- Integration with cloud services
- Cloud application prototyping
DataInsighter’s engineers are highly trained and experienced with cloud technologies and how to best take advantage of them along with other, traditional data and computing resources. We begin any potential cloud-based project by working to understand the underlying business requirements and then formulate a detailed development plan, taking into consideration performance, scalability, security, integration and deployment. Ensuring that the latest frameworks and tools are used, we implement the solution using Agile software engineering practices that allow for progress to be monitored along the way.
If you’re ready to take advantage of the cloud, or if you’re just curious to learn more about the potential of a cloud-based solution, contact us to discuss your unique business needs and find out how DataInsighter can help take your organization to the next level.
