By now, your company is almost certainly making some use of cloud technology, even if you don’t realize it. After all, services such as Google Mail, Office365, and Dropbox are just some examples of public cloud platforms with a reach that extends to almost every organization in America. However, what if you’re considering a different use of cloud computing in your IT services in West Palm Beach?
Public Cloud
In this case, you may be looking at the likes of Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), Windows Azure Services Platform or Google App Engine, to name just a few. These provide any organization with relatively easy and cost-effective access to powerful computing resources that are flexible and robust.
There is a big drawback to the public cloud, however: it’s not your own. This means that any proprietary technology and data being processed or stored on these platforms sits on shared platforms. That, by its very nature, is less secure than a platform over which you have 100% ownership and control. Furthermore, all data transmitted to and from the public cloud is at risk.
To a certain extent, the risks can be mitigated in an IT services in West Palm Beach. Add in the fact that corporate public cloud platforms offer you the support of huge tech giants who are in the business of providing robust, secure technology, and there’s a lot to be said for public cloud computing.
Private Cloud
If security is the over-riding requirement, the private cloud may be a much more attractive option for your IT services in West Palm Beach. With your own private cloud, your company owns the hardware and network, which sit behind your firewall. You can maintain total control over who has access to your cloud.
Hybrid Cloud
There is a third option, however. A hybrid cloud allows you to keep critical components of your cloud platform and services within a private domain. You may choose to have your live environment fully in-house, with your systems and data secure from the outside world. Development environments can be hosted in the public cloud, giving you the benefit of quick, cost-effective provision of test servers.
Alternatively, a subset of data and/or services can live in the public cloud, communicating securely with your private cloud, where proprietary data and customer details are kept safe from hackers. The hybrid cloud provides a wealth of options that maximize the power of public and private cloud infrastructure while mitigating the biggest risks.
Deciding on Public, Private, and Hybrid Cloud
Choosing one of these will depend largely (but by no means exclusively) on your data. For example, certain types of sensitive data, such as personally identifiable information (PII), medical records and credit card information, must be handled in ways that are legally mandated. This may preclude the use of the public cloud.
The performance of both servers and networks is another big reason you may want to choose the private cloud. However, if scalability of your services is a primary concern, the public or hybrid cloud may suit your needs. Nexxen Technologies, Inc. can help you understand what kind of IT services in West Palm Beach meet your requirements. Contact us now to find out more.