From public to hybrid: Building a business case for cloud migration

Editor’s note: This is a sponsored article, which means it is independently written by our editorial team but financially supported by another organisation, in this case, Scaleway. If you would like to learn more about sponsored posts on tech.eu, read this and contact us if you are interested in partnering with us.

Moving to the cloud is not as simple as flicking a switch. First, strategizing and planning around what data to move first needs to be done, as well as considering what cybersecurity concerns there may be, the ideal partners and, of course, the costs involved.

This means creating a business case, mapping out the pros and cons, and its impact on the bottom line. Short-term investment can be costly, but with the ultimate long-term goal of reducing operating costs and improving efficiency and functionality, migration can be advantageous for companies.

There are benefits for startups and businesses alike in moving to the cloud, such as speed of access to data and security, but there needs to be a strong business case for it. This is because not all companies have the same issues and they will benefit in different ways, some more so than others. For example, legacy companies will have a challenge in moving to the cloud due to having years’ worth of data stored in silos.

The leading European alternative cloud provider, Scaleway, has devised a decision-making framework to help companies understand the different options for cloud migration, evaluate the risks involved and highlight hybrid and multi-cloud approaches to avoid lock-in practices.

Partnering with the right provider is key as the company will be entering a long-term agreement. Once a decision is made to partner up with one or more cloud providers, it can be very difficult to pull out of an agreement and untangle the data from the migration. This is something that needs to be considered in order to choose a provider that is flexible, open, secure and cost-efficient.

Types of clouds

First things first, a business needs to define exactly what type of cloud will meet its needs. There are three types of clouds: public cloud, private cloud and hybrid cloud. It’s important that you know the difference.

A public cloud provides a highly scalable solution for different sized companies, which all share the same servers. A private cloud on the other hand is a dedicated solution for just one company.

Hybrid cloud allows for a mix of architecture hosted internally and externally. In this case, a company designates certain data for the cloud while keeping other data, which may be highly sensitive, on internal systems.

Infrastructure as a Service, or IaaS, has emerged as a flexible solution for companies too. According to Gartner, the global market for IaaS was worth $44.5 billion in 2019 — a figure that is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years.

Companies can rent cloud computing services on demand, gaining access to key resources like processing, data storage capacity and network components without any of the maintenance or costs of operating the servers by themselves. Most importantly, IaaS provides companies with flexibility when scaling their cloud needs by only paying for what they use. Capabilities can be adjusted as demands change and can be implemented relatively quickly – often in just a few minutes.

Platform as a Service (PaaS) is another flexible and cost-efficient option for businesses. PaaS allows companies to access the tools for testing, deploying and managing applications while outsourcing the infrastructure itself to a fully managed solution. Similarly, this can be customised to each company based on their needs and the size of their operation. It can also be deployed quickly with maintenance and updates handled by the provider. With PaaS, a company can focus more on coding and delivering projects on time and is especially convenient for collaborating on projects remotely.

Companies interested in migrating to the cloud have more options than ever and they are not limited to one sole option. Making use of the various options and employing a multi-cloud strategy can ensure companies devise a migration that’s tailored to their needs and fits together with their overall business.