Around the world, the impact of the cloud is undeniable and growing rapidly. According to Gartner, the worldwide public cloud services market is forecast to grow 17% in 2020 to a total of US$266.4 billion, up from US$227.8 billion last year [1]. As users gain familiarity with a growing array of digital tools and businesses complete their digital transformation initiatives, demand on the cloud can only increase.
Enabled by public cloud
From online accounting software Xero [2], communication software such as Microsoft Teams [3], and collaboration tools like Slack [4], the top tools used in enterprises are increasingly powered by infrastructure hosted on public cloud platforms. With their inherent scalability and availability, services powered by the public cloud are very much an integral part of our lives at home and work today.
There is also no question that the public cloud has dramatically transformed how enterprises deploy workloads. Instead of the weeks or months of waiting with traditional IT procurement, new systems can be rolled out within minutes or hours on a cloud platform of choice. With no capital investments required, start-ups can get on their feet or put out a minimum viable product much quicker.
Crucially, such an approach shifts the focus away from mundane tasks around maintaining individual systems and hardware to a service delivery paradigm. With the eye on functionality and user experience, businesses can innovate better using modern methodologies such as continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) to meet evolving market conditions and the competition.
Gear up for a hybrid cloud future
But for the many advantages that the public cloud offers, there are also gaps where it cannot or are less optimal at addressing. Some are well-known, such as the “bill shock” of ballooning cloud costs [5] to niche cases where performance is paramount [6]. Indeed, the Thai government in May approved a multi-billion-baht budget for a private government cloud to replace public cloud deployments [7], stating that state agencies will no longer be allowed to budget for public cloud services from the next fiscal year.
Moreover, there are data residency and locality considerations to bear in mind, as data ecosystems evolve and mature in the face of new regulations and best practices. Because organizations want to continue leveraging the capabilities of the public cloud, they are turning to hybrid cloud deployments. For some enterprises, this may involve the repatriation of some cloud deployments [8] while retaining access to the public cloud, while others might attempt to optimize their IT stack to better work in a hybrid cloud environment.
Fortunately, modern hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) systems are simpler to deploy and offer greater flexibility over older systems, offering some of the elasticity of public cloud providers alongside the control and security of an on-premises system. On their part, colocation providers are providing high power densities for HCI systems, and new network offerings to support hybrid cloud deployments.
Positioned for growth
Successful digital transformation requires the right blend of digital capabilities that can leverage the best of public and private cloud deployments. And despite the substantial changes in technology, the colocation data center with its ability to support robust private cloud systems continues to maintain its relevance in a multi-cloud world.
Paired with the right colocation facilities, enterprises can establish hybrid cloud systems to meet a diverse range of requirements:
- Ensure business continuity: Properly designed, a hybrid cloud deployment can support digital transformation without the worry of a localized disaster crashing the entire digital ecosystem. This can be achieved by utilizing existing network connectivity between data centers or architecting the system to failover to the public cloud.
- Meet elastic demand: The organization’s workload can be contained in the private cloud while retaining the ability to spontaneously increase workloads and address spikes in demand on the public cloud. If necessary, new core capacity can be quickly deployed on-premises to meet growth, with the public cloud taking up the slack in the interim.
- Keep legacy systems running: The cost and complexity of migrating legacy or monolithic systems to the public cloud can be effectively addressed by continuing to run them within colocation data centers. Without the need to re-engineer traditional systems, resources and time are freed up that can be refocused on genuine innovation to enhance the organization’s bottom line.
- Support niche requirements: Core enterprise systems that require extremely high performance or are highly latency-sensitive can be effectively hosted in a colocation facility as part of a hybrid cloud. This effectively addresses specialized requirements and ensures that there is no risk of runaway operating cost.
When partnered with the right colocation provider who can offer the right support and facilities, enterprises can embark their digital transformation initiatives with confidence, and be able to focus on their core competencies for success.
Drive transformation with Princeton Digital Group
Princeton Digital Group (PDG) is a high-growth investor, developer and operator of internet infrastructure with presence in key digital economies across Asia. Backed by Warburg Pincus, a leading global private equity firm, and a leadership team with unmatched experience in the global telecom and internet infrastructure sectors, PDG delivers scalable and agile solutions for hyperscalers and enterprises, paving the way for future growth. With our deep insights, PDG delivers the critical infrastructure you need as you expand your hybrid IT deployment.
