A hybrid cloud is a computing environment that enables users to run their applications across multiple environments. It typically combines public clouds and private clouds, allowing you to tailor your setups based on your specific business needs. A hybrid cloud is similar to multicloud. The only difference is that a multicloud model uses two or more public services, while a hybrid cloud environment mixes both private and public cloud services.
You can equate a hybrid solution to a hybrid car. A hybrid vehicle runs on both gasoline and energy stored in batteries. Each of these technologies functions differently. But when they are combined, the result is a car that is more powerful than electric vehicles yet more efficient than gasoline cars.
Read on as we explore why most companies use hybrid cloud environments, as well as some of the most common use cases of hybrid clouds.
Most Common Use Cases of Hybrid Clouds
Disaster Recovery
Disaster recovery typically refers to an organization’s ability to recover from an event that negatively affects its business operations. This could be cyberattacks, natural disasters, unexpected power outages, or server outages, among other issues. It’s the work of the IT team to develop a disaster recovery strategy.
Most companies use a hybrid environment for disaster recovery simply because it allows them to house primary systems and data in a private cloud and backups in a public cloud. In case of a disaster, they can simply transition their activities to their public cloud and then resume to the private cloud once they’ve resolved the issues.
Development and Testing of Software
A hybrid cloud environment is ideal for developing, testing, and delivering software, especially for companies working on tight budgets. That’s because there is no need to purchase and maintain on-premise hardware. You can simply use a public cloud to develop and test software and then migrate these applications to a private cloud environment whenever it’s necessary.
Cloud Bursting
Cloud bursting is when you distribute or shift workloads to different cloud environments to meet capacity needs. A good example is an e-commerce platform that runs on a private cloud during regular operations. However, during peak shopping seasons, traffic to the platform increases dramatically. So, instead of investing in additional private infrastructure to handle the occasional peaks, they can offload the excess traffic to a public cloud.
Content Delivery
Organizations can use a hybrid cloud environment to deliver content such as photos, movies, and web pages to people. This is usually done through a hybrid content delivery network (CDN). A hybrid CDN is simply a network infrastructure that combines the functionalities of traditional public and private CDNs.
One of the main advantages of using a hybrid CDN is that you can send content to your customers fast and effectively. It also provides a safe and managed environment where you can store your content management systems.
Moving Workloads to the Cloud
With a hybrid cloud, you can move applications to the cloud at a pace that makes sense to your business. You can choose to store some of your files on a public cloud and others on a private cloud. It’s up to you to decide what works for your business.
Top 5 Real Examples of Companies Using Hybrid Cloud
Here’s how some of your favorite companies are using hybrid cloud to run their operations:
Netflix
Netflix has over 200 million users across 190 countries. As such, it needs lots of storage and computing space to be able to serve its customers effectively. The company relies on Amazon Web Services (AWS) for almost all its storage and computing needs. AWS provides Netflix with the necessary infrastructure to operate securely, scale up as needed, and meet its massive capacity needs. They’ve even built a studio using AWS, where top talents can collaborate virtually without having to be in the same location.
Adobe
Adobe is a leading producer of digital marketing and creative software. The company has recently adopted a hybrid cloud infrastructure to run its services and applications. It mostly uses its hybrid cloud environment for:
- Content creation and storage: Adobe relies on Microsoft Azure and AWS for the storage and delivery of content to its customers. By using a hybrid cloud strategy, the company is able to make its content easily accessible to its customers. It’s also able to manage its storage more efficiently.
- Advertising and Marketing: Adobe has built a CRM platform known as Adobe Marketing Cloud. The platform is based on a hybrid cloud environment and offers solutions for different marketing needs. From data analytics and management to personalized customer experiences, this platform offers you everything you need to optimize your marketing campaigns.
- Data management and analytics: Adobe Analytics is an analytics platform that uses a hybrid cloud infrastructure to collect, process, and analyze data, helping you make informed business decisions based on the data.
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is one of the world’s biggest beverage companies with products sold in more than 200 countries. The company uses a hybrid infrastructure to support its operations and keep up with its global reach. Here are some areas that benefit from the hybrid cloud infrastructure:
- Supply chain management: Coca-Cola uses a hybrid cloud environment to manage its supply chain. The cloud environment enables them to monitor inventory levels and the shipping process in real time. This ensures that the shipping process runs smoothly.
- Disaster recovery: Coca-Cola backs up its critical data in a hybrid cloud environment to minimize downtime and enable quick recovery in case of a disaster.
Toyota
Toyota has more than 50 production facilities around the world. The company uses a hybrid cloud strategy to support its operations, including:
- Manufacturing: Toyota uses a hybrid cloud environment to schedule productions and control its inventory, among other manufacturing processes.
- Sales and marketing: The company uses a public cloud environment to perform all the sales and marketing operations. This makes it easier to scale up and down with ease based on the changes in demand.
Why Should You Use a Hybrid Cloud Environment?
Most companies use hybrid cloud solutions because they are flexible. You can easily migrate and manage workloads between different cloud environments and create a setup based on your business needs. Most of the world’s leading companies, like Toyota, Netflix, and Adobe, use a hybrid strategy to streamline their processes. You can adopt a hybrid cloud strategy too. But remember, there is no one-size-fits-all strategy. Therefore, you must come up with a strategy tailored to suit your company’s evolving needs.
