What is Enterprise Cloud?
Enterprise cloud is more than a computing model where your business can access virtual IT services from public or private cloud providers. It’s a strategy for maximizing your cloud services and deployments. And it’s a game-changer for enterprises that need flexibility and scalability. But moving your enterprise technology to the cloud is one thing. Setting your enterprise up for success is another.
What is Enterprise Cloud?
Enterprise cloud is a computing model where businesses can access virtualized IT resources from a public or private cloud services provider on a pay-per-use basis. These resources can include servers, processing power (CPU cores), data storage, virtualization capabilities, and networking infrastructure.
Enterprise cloud computing creates new opportunities for businesses to reduce costs while enhancing business resiliency, flexibility, and network security.
As organizations undergo digital transformation, they need flexible and scalable access to three types of computing resources: processing power, computer memory, and data storage. In the past, these organizations would bear the cost of implementing and maintaining their own networks and data centers. Now, enterprises can access these resources at a low cost by partnering with public and private enterprise cloud service providers.
Enterprise cloud service providers deliver computing resources to their customers through the Internet. They may also provide software cloud management systems or managed services to help their customers maximize the benefits of enterprise cloud.
Features of an Enterprise Cloud
- Combines the features of cloud computing into a model that best suits business customers.
- Offers efficient and reliable infrastructure for all types of applications.
- Focus on ease of use and automation.
- High flexibility allows companies to implement customized solutions.
- Easy integration with existing on-site or remotely hosted legacy services.
Why do use it?
The enterprise cloud is ideal for large organizations with diverse cloud workloads. No two companies will have the same cloud computing requirements. The enterprise cloud enables the IT department to match workloads to the environment best suited for them, even as conditions and demands change. What belongs on a public cloud goes on a public cloud. Applications and data most suited to a private cloud go on a private cloud.
However, the enterprise cloud model provides for unified management and governance across its heterogeneous landscape. Most enterprise clouds provide for automated deployment and management of applications across multiple environments while maintaining governance and control. The IT department can drive simplicity for multicloud governance with an open approach that values flexibility and scalability. Enterprise cloud also empowers end-users with self-service of private and public cloud options.
What are the elements of an Enterprise Cloud strategy?
The term “public cloud” refers to cloud computing services that are available on demand to anyone. The best-known public cloud providers are Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). These platforms enable users to deploy or “spin up” cloud computing instances on an as-needed basis. For example, an AWS user could set up a Virtual Machine (VM) running the Linux Operating System (OS) and the MySQL database – in real-time. The user could scale up the instance as volume increased, but then scale it down as needed. Public cloud platforms typically charge fees based on usage and time, e.g., a dollar per hour for a VM instance.
A private cloud is an infrastructure that uses a cloud computing software architecture but is hosted in a private data center or customer-controlled co-location facility. To the user, the private cloud functions comparably to a public cloud. The user can “spin up” cloud-based VMs, storage, and so forth, on-demand in real-time. However, the physical hardware supporting this cloud is privately owned, hosted, and controlled. Working this way, the organization gains all of the flexibility and agility benefits of cloud computing while still operating within its on-premises security and compliance policies. Private clouds can also be tuned to meet performance requirements more easily than is possible with public cloud platforms.
There is some confusion between the terms “hybrid cloud” and “multicloud.” They are used interchangeably, and unfortunately, little consensus exists about what each term means. In general, though, when people talk about a hybrid cloud, they most often mean a cloud ecosystem that spans public and private cloud platforms. For example, a hybrid cloud might have applications deployed on AWS, as well as on on-premises private cloud infrastructure. The implication of a hybrid cloud is that the applications it hosts are connected across the public and private clouds, and may interoperate between those platforms as well.
The term “multicloud” usually refers to the utilization of two or more cloud platforms, e.g., operating on AWS, Azure, and GCS all at the same time. Each platform might be hosting totally separate, unconnected solutions. Or, a multicloud environment could feature solutions that are connected across cloud platforms and interoperate.
What’s driving enterprise cloud computing?
Businesses are making the move to enterprise cloud computing for several reasons. Cloud drivers include:
- Business growth. Cloud technology improves team communication. It also allows employees to work when and where they choose. That means you save on IT needs and pay per user, enabling scaling.
- Efficiency. A common driver, enterprise cloud computing helps businesses streamline and increase productivity.
- Experience. Migrating to enterprise cloud computing enhances the customer experience. How? It’s possible to introduce new channels of engagement.
- Agility. Your IT team becomes more responsive to business needs and can react faster to market changes.
- Cost. IT expenses fall, and they’re also restructured to spread costs over time.
- Assurance. The idea that data is safer in the cloud, is maintained by cloud providers who build their model around security.
Conclusion
Enterprise cloud computing is a thriving market. Organizations are becoming proficient at using cloud technology. What’s more, many industries are migrating to the cloud as enterprise cloud development continues to occur.
Paying only for the services you use is affordable and scalable; that’s attractive to businesses. Other drivers of enterprise cloud computing include agility and improved efficiency. There are many facets to cloud computing, from public and private clouds to hybrid clouds. Each has its pros and cons and security considerations.