A range of cloud models are available for deploying and managing enterprise cloud computing environments. Some enterprises demand that sensitive, mission-critical apps remain on-premises, while others can access cloud features through a private cloud, and others still may be offloaded to the public cloud. Over the past two years, management solutions that support hybrid cloud environments and, increasingly, multi-cloud management have grown in importance.
Listed below are the key deployment models for cloud computing environments, as identified by GlobalData.
Public cloud
Public clouds are computing services typically associated with leading public cloud services, like AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, which are available over the public internet under a pay-per-usage model. Public cloud IaaS solutions include on-demand compute and on-demand storage, in which clients pay for the capacity they use. Public cloud solutions are attractive to customers because there is no upfront capital expenditure (capex), and providers typically offer very flexible contracting models.
Private cloud
Private clouds are typically designed for the benefit of a single enterprise. Private clouds come in different forms and can be distinguished according to where the cloud infrastructure is located, i.e., in an enterprise data centre (on-premises) or a service provider or infrastructure vendor’s data centre (off-premises). They can also be distinguished according to who manages the cloud environment (i.e., the enterprise end-user, infrastructure vendor, or service provider).
Community cloud
A community cloud is a broader version of a private cloud supporting a community that has elements in common such as business model, regulatory environment, or the needs of end-users. Examples include industry or vertical clouds (such as the GE Health Cloud), a publishing industry cloud, or a banking regulation cloud.
Hybrid cloud
New solutions help enterprises access the benefits of the public cloud, both off-premises and behind enterprise firewalls. Public cloud has become a source of IT infrastructure, resources, and capabilities. Hybrid cloud solutions are designed to modernise on-premises data centres via access to public cloud services behind the firewall. Specific solutions aim to provide integrated access to private and public cloud environments while easing workload migration between both environments.
Multi-cloud
Multi-cloud involves the use of two or more cloud platforms and is increasingly common as enterprises make decisions about which platforms to use on a case-by-case basis, according to considerations such as cost, performance, availability, and compliance. With hybrid and multi-cloud environments becoming more common, the tools to manage workloads across these environments are progressing.
This is an edited extract from the Cloud Computing – Thematic Research report produced by GlobalData Thematic Research.
