Public vs. Private Cloud – Which Works Best For You?

As mentioned in our previous blogs, leveraging Cloud as part of your business operations platform is not just a prudent decision but is pretty much a necessity in today’s fast-paced business environment. Going more in depth, there are two ways for you to run your business through the Cloud – privately or publicly. Understanding the differences between private and public Cloud, as well as various providers, is crucial to ensure the initiative will succeed in the long run.

Although running your business in the Cloud is extremely beneficial, there are a few factors to take into account before you make your final decision as to what type of Cloud solution to display.

First off, you may feel like you are faced with too many cloud options. And on top of that, you probably feel like if you make the wrong decision, it will hurt your company in the long run. Additionally, too many people have started to think that a “private” cloud solution is the best choice when they haven’t taken other alternatives into consideration.

You want to make a smart investment. Selecting new tools for your organization should be viewed as an investment, both in time and money. A smart investment has the power to enable your organization to be exponentially more effective and efficient. Similarly, an unwise and careless investment can seriously undermine your previous hard work. Bottom line: it is extremely important that you consider your potential partner for implementation/long-term Cloud support.

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Let’s get more in depth with the specifics of private vs. public Clouds:

Private Cloud

A private Cloud is, essentially, a Cloud computing capability dedicated to one organization.

Examples:

Public Cloud

A public Cloud refers to services (storage, applications, etc.) that are made available to the general public by a service provider. Public Cloud almost always means that the resources are being shared by multiple users or organizations.

Examples:

Public Vs. Private

Advantages Considerations
Private Maximum control;  Flexible; high level of integration; Run any application Accommodate all needs
Public Lower cost; Easy & Quick setup; Highly scalable; Security, Limited customization, shared resources; May need multiple Clouds

Questions to keep in the back of your mind while considering providers:

  1. Vendor details: find out about the specific vendor, their sustainability, product reviews?
  2. Do they own the infrastructure or do they resell services?
  3. Data access policies and security – who “owns” the data?
  4. Data portability: will you be able to move your data should you choose to change providers down the road? Will you be charged a termination fee?

By taking the time upfront to carefully consider your potential Cloud-computing partner, you will inadvertently reap the benefits of the best possible result. Contact Third Wave to see what type of cloud solution, private or public, would be most favorable to your company.

-Gopal Viswanathan, Director of Software Development

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