Public, Private, or Hybrid Cloud – Which Is Best?

The cloud is the solution for businesses eager to modernize their technology stack and ensure access to applications from wherever. However, the configuration of the cloud opens up the question of which is best — public, private, or hybrid cloud? Explore the differences between public, private, and hybrid cloud setups for cloud communications to determine the right fit for your organization.

The Cloud Is a Must for Digital Transformation

Future-proofing operations are a top priority for companies. After nearly two years of disruption in how the world works, you want to prepare for what happens next.

To achieve digital transformation, you’ll need to adopt the cloud for communications and collaboration tools. By doing so, you meet the demands of modern business. Those include:

• Improving the customer experience
• Empowering employees to boost productivity with easy-to-use tools
• Fortifying the security of data and networks
• Streamlining processes

Without the power of the cloud driving your systems for communications, you’ll struggle with efficiency and effectiveness. Cloud-based communications usage accelerated during the pandemic. Businesses then realized so many value-added benefits by migrating to the cloud. But what cloud model is most useful to your company? Let’s look at the differences and pros and cons of public, private, and hybrid cloud.

Public, Private, and Hybrid Cloud: Differences and Pros and Cons

Cloud computing encompasses three options.

The Public Cloud

In most cases, the public cloud is the most used by organizations. In fact, 91 percent of companies use the public cloud to house applications and store data. The “big three” of public cloud computing are Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure, and Google.

The use of the public cloud means you “share” it with other businesses. However, no one outside your users can access it.

Pros

• Public clouds are the most affordable option.
• Scalability is easy as you grow.
• It’s easy to set up, and you don’t have to worry about updates or security.
• The three leading providers have high reliability, so downtime is a lesser risk.
• It includes layers of security to keep data safe and secure.

Cons

• You have little control over the configurations.
• Although highly secure, public clouds are still vulnerable to attacks.
• Costs can rise as your business grows.

The Private Cloud

Private clouds are the cloud model where you own the cloud and don’t share it. Industries that are highly regulated or enterprises often lean on private clouds.

The difference is that you’re not sharing it with anyone else. Many businesses lean this way for several reasons, such as security or a high volume of applications or data.

The private cloud infrastructure is yours alone and is highly customizable, supporting organizations with proprietary applications.

Pros

• It’s dedicated, so you have complete control.
• A private cloud supports any regulatory requirements.
• It’s highly customizable.
• Scaling is easy, and the infrastructure is flexible.
• It has high performance regarding reliability.

Cons

• It’s expensive to set up and maintain.
• Private cloud management requires IT expertise, either internally or via a third party.
• Mobile users may have challenges with access due to the high-security components.

The Hybrid Cloud

A hybrid cloud is what its name advertises. It combines the best of public and private clouds. You can use this model to separate applications and workloads. Most users put applications and data that are most sensitive on the private side while locating less secure-intensive ones on the public side.

Hybrid clouds can be a little challenging to develop. You’ll need the property technical components in place. A major one is that both clouds must be accessible in the same environment.

Pros

• It can be more cost-effective than having just private clouds.
• You have control over what lives in each cloud.
• You’ll enjoy high reliability on both sides.
• It enables an environment of high-security standards.
• The scalability of workloads is efficient.

Cons

• Maintenance costs can become budget breakers.
• Private and public clouds must be compatible to coexist.
• The infrastructure becomes more complex, requiring in-house staff or third-party expertise.

What’s the Best Cloud Fit for Your Organization’s Communication Tools?

The right cloud depends on how you’ll use it, your specific requirements, budgets, and ability to maintain it. You’ll need to define your cloud strategy to determine which option works best for you now and in the future.

Consider these points:

• Do you have the means to control, set up, maintain, and monitor a cloud?
• What is your annual budget for the cloud?
• What types of applications and databases would reside in your cloud?
• Do you need what’s in the cloud to be accessible from wherever?
• Are there any regulatory or compliance concerns to address?
• What’s your growth plan, and how does it align with scalability and flexibility?

Depending on how you answer these questions, you’ll be able to discern which avenue is the most suitable for your cloud communications platform. No matter your industry or user base, your adoption of the cloud, in any model, sets you up to weather whatever may happen next.

Simple, Secure, and Easy to Use: Intermedia Cloud Communications Solutions

Cloud communications deliver so many advantages. It can immediately impact how your team works and how they support customers. Having communication and collaboration tools in one place in the cloud is essential for your future. See how we deliver this with Intermedia Unite, a UCaaS (unified communications as a service) solution.