This hybrid cloud adoption is happening at an impressive pace across the industry, according to Dave Russell, Veeam vice president of business strategy. “In recent years, the pandemic and the resulting macroeconomic activity caused organizations to rethink their operational strategy and accelerate the transition to hybrid cloud,” he says. Market statistics agree: Mordor Intelligence predicts that the hybrid cloud market will continue to grow rapidly, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.6% through 2026.
Enterprises are increasingly turning to hybrid cloud for cost savings and the flexibility to innovate and scale. “One of the biggest benefits of hybrid cloud is minimizing the costs of expanding on-premises infrastructure,” explains Kateryna Dubrova, research analyst for IoT networks and services at global technology intelligence firm ABI Research. She adds, “It simplifies cloud workload development so you can quickly test, prototype and launch new products.”
Keep control over data
The growth in hybrid cloud adoption is bringing data security and protection into sharp focus. “The problem now is that we have a lot more data and a lot more applications in a lot more places,” said Alexey Gerasimov, vice president and chief of cloud practice at Capgemini Americas. “They are all subject to attacks, penetrations, data breaches – the attack surface is much larger and there are many more things to attack.”
Protecting data in hybrid environments is complex. Businesses often rely on multiple systems from multiple vendors, leading to data vulnerability, inefficiency and rising overhead costs. To protect assets as cybersecurity threats increase and evolve, companies must understand the data challenges associated with hybrid cloud.
Companies working with cloud technologies sometimes assume that cloud providers provide data security and protection; however, the ultimate responsibility for the data management strategy rests with the company, regardless of where the data resides. “Compared to conventional IT, cloud security and protection is governed by shared responsibility. The cloud service provider takes responsibility for the underlying infrastructure, such as cloud computing services. The company remains responsible for applications, data and users,” explains Dubrova.
The responsibility is like renting a car, says Russell: The rental company provides the car and a tank of gas, but the driver still has to drive the car and avoid accidents. “Similarly, hybrid cloud providers provide the working infrastructure – server racks – but it’s still up to the enterprise to protect its data,” he says. “It is still up to the enterprise to strengthen access from the perspective of ports, credentials and all the security details associated with using a hybrid cloud environment.”
Once this is understood, business responsibility in the hybrid environment is an advantage. “In my opinion, hybrid is better where you have high demands on compliance and data sovereignty,” says Nallappan.
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