Cloud trends: what strategy is best for your business?
Society continues to evolve in the digital age. Recognising the advantages of cloud computing, companies are starting to more readily approach it, now that they are able to make more informed decisions when it comes to choosing infrastructures and cloud migration. As ever-increasing digitisation brings new needs, both public and private companies need to adapt, particularly by employing strategies that rely on hybrid or multi-cloud solutions.
Cloud market trends
The term ‘adaptability’ perfectly describes the market’s current trends and needs. Continuously evolving digitisation, globalisation, and ever-increasing data streams are all reasons why companies need to demonstrate this quality, both at an operational level and in their choice of infrastructure. To clarify the issues associated with these new requirements, we need to define the types of infrastructure and what they involve.
IT infrastructure
On-premises infrastructure: the customer has their own infrastructure. They have servers installed with the software they need. These machines are usually located on the company premises, and the customer manages the infrastructure themselves. A dedicated team takes care of server and software maintenance, data backup, and solution implementation.
Private Cloud: refers to a cloud infrastructure that is based on physical or virtual servers and managed by a provider. The provider is responsible for maintaining the hardware layer, including the private servers used to virtualise the customer’s machines.
Public Cloud: is an infrastructure based on virtual servers and is managed by the customer. It is a model that can be open source, and involves the virtualisation of resources, available on demand. As a result, the Public Cloud offers great scalability.
Cloud computing
This technology enables IT services and resources to be delivered over the Internet. It is an integral part of a company’s digital transformation, and comes in three main solutions.
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): refers to handing over the entire physical infrastructure to a cloud service provider to manage the hardware maintenance, hypervisor and network. The customer adds the resources they need directly over the network.
- Platform as a Service (PaaS): means accessing a programming and/or development platform online. This solution offers the freedom to code projects without having to worry about platform maintenance.
- Software as a Service (SaaS): refers to having access to software over the network. The end user no longer has to worry about installation and maintenance: this is taken care of by the SaaS service provider. The customer simply subscribes to the solution.
Why should you be thinking about your cloud strategy?
As companies become more and more digitised, IT infrastructures need to be redesigned. There are many challenges associated with a cloud strategy; it is essential to approach it carefully, so that it meets your needs. Your IT system is at the heart of your digital transformation, and is therefore the key to your company’s longevity. It doesn’t matter how big your company is or what sector you are in. An adapted cloud strategy allows you to deploy your teams in the best way possible, while managing your budget. Public or private, the cloud has a cost; and in certain architectures the costs can double. It is therefore important to make informed choices about hosting. Digitisation requires power and performance, while also considering its international context with all of its applicable regulations. So you need to ask the right questions to understand your needs and find the architecture that will best meet them, and also ensure that you have the right level of security and resilience. To help you, OVHcloud offers a catalogue of diverse solutions and solutions, to suit a wide range of uses and requirements.
The OVHcloud universes
OVHcloud can provide you with a hosting infrastructure that’s right for you, while ensuring the best price-performance ratio. Our solutions can support your digital transformation projects, and their storage space can be adapted to suit your needs. Designed using our entire ecosystem, they guarantee the highest level of security, resilience, compliance and sovereignty.
Public Cloud solution: scalable and managed
Public cloud frees you from the costs of managing and maintaining your own infrastructure. Our solution is based on OpenStack and Kubernetes technologies. Our scalable Public Cloud solution provides you with the flexibility you need for even your most ambitious projects. We free you from managing your infrastructure hardware, so you can focus on your core business. You deploy the resources you need, whenever you need – and manage your budget with pay-as-you-go billing.
Hosted Private Cloud solution: security and certifications
Our Hosted Private Cloud solution provides you with your own virtual datacentre in the cloud. It is based on VMware, Nutanix and Anthos technologies and has many qualifications and certifications. It allows you to control and manage your data without having to worry about hardware maintenance. We also take care of managing your virtual machines. Since your infrastructure is located within the OVHcloud firewalls, your data is securely hosted in our private network (vRack). Our SecNumCloud-certified private cloud offers the highest level of compliance for hosting your most sensitive data. Your allocated resources are dedicated to you, so you can enjoy high availability.
Hybrid cloud: combining performance and sovereignty
A hybrid infrastructure combines the advantages of public and private cloud. You get the scalability and reliability of the Public Cloud, while ensuring a high level of security and compliance for your data, with the certifications of the Hosted Private Cloud solution. A hybrid cloud consolidates your infrastructure, and makes migrating and outsourcing the management of your hosting solution easier. You can easily combine the advantages of your on-premises infrastructure with the benefits of cloud computing.
Which cloud strategy is best for my needs?
Private Cloud or Public Cloud
| Private Cloud | Public Cloud |
| Control: enables better management of data, users and information. | Simplicity : easy and fast deployment. What’s more, OVHcloud takes care of the network and hardware maintenance. |
| Security: our infrastructures are protected by powerful anti-DDoS protection, and are maintained by our experts. | Cost: very low initial investment and budget control thanks to clear billing. |
| Certifications: our Private Cloud solutions are certified to meet the very highest requirements. They provide proof of a secure environment for your data (SecNumCloud, HDS, PCI DSS, etc.). | Time-saving: IT resources are available immediately. |
| Customisation: the hardware layer and resources can be easily adapted to suit your needs. | Freedom: The Public Cloud solution is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis, so there’s no need for a long-term commitment. |
Before making a decision, there are several factors to consider.
- Which services would you like to migrate to the cloud? Which would you like to outsource?
- Do you need a private network, so you don’t have to rely on public networks? Do you want to combine the two according to your needs?
- Do you have to legally keep certain activities in-house?
- Which services can be “taken out” of your infrastructure or operation?
- What are your control and management preferences: IaaS, PaaS, SaaS?
Depending on your IT environment and scalability requirements, you can deploy your infrastructure with either public or private cloud solutions. You can also choose a hybrid infrastructure, combining the advantages of both solutions.
Hybrid and multi-cloud architectures
Nowadays, companies need modern, reliable infrastructures for their sensitive data. By choosing a digital transformation strategy, based on a hybrid or multi-cloud solution, you get the benefits of both the technologies available to you, all while enjoying the best price-performance ratio. The multiple datacentres and points of presence available guarantee the highest level of compliance and security for your data, no matter where it is located. You can also use the qualifications and certifications offered by our solutions to guarantee resilience for your infrastructure. Big data analysis, artificial intelligence, healthcare data hosting: deploy your workplace environments quickly, and bring your most ambitious projects to life.
With a hybrid or multi-cloud architecture, you can ensure that your infrastructure and data remain online. And with a good strategy, you can ensure optimal security and compliance, giving your customers peace of mind. It is essential to be prepared for any eventuality. Natural disasters, pandemics, human error: being prepared in the event of a disaster ensures that they will not have any impact on your business. It is therefore vital to ensure the redundancy of your infrastructures and data, as well as their sovereignty.
