The why and how of hybrid cloud

Community Manager

“We’ve really looked at how we’re utilizing all of our capacity. We can say about 60 percent of our infrastructure has been reduced. [Hybrid cloud] is really a way for us to continue to grow without adding a lot of cost to the bottom line. When we talked about where we wanted to go as a business, the foundation that’s been built with this hybrid cloud and with our networks is amazing. It’s just opened doors right and left for us to really be more innovative.”

Julia Anderson, Global Chief Information Officer, Smithfield Foods

 

With the global trend toward digital transformation—that is, as almost every organization in every industry around the world changes from one that uses digital technology to one that is a digital organization—many companies are learning that cloud computing allows for more agility and innovation for the business, without sacrificing reliability, scalability, or security.

 

But not all data can go directly to the public cloud. For example, sensitivity about the data location, along with industry regulation compliance, may be a barrier. Many companies and organizations are discovering that hybrid cloud offers the computing power of the public cloud, while keeping some applications on-premises, thereby making the most of the flexibility of each environment. In other words, hybrid gives you the best of both worlds.

 

The Microsoft approach to hybrid is all about consistency, which enables uniform development, unified DevOps and management, common identity and security, and seamless extension to the cloud. And Microsoft has a special focus on app development, identity, security and management, and data—especially moving data between on-premises and Azure.

 

The RightScale 2017 State of the Cloud report, which itemizes the results of a survey of more than 1,000 technology professionals, notes, “Hybrid cloud is the preferred enterprise strategy.” And Ritu Jyoti, research director of IDC’s Storage team, says, “Hybrid cloud/multicloud deployments are becoming the new norm.”

 

As an IT pro, you want information about all cloud environments to make the best decisions for your organization. When learning about the cloud in general and hybrid cloud in particular, where should you start?

 

  • Azure Essentials is the best place to start your cloud journey. Begin with three simple steps to learn the basics in less than an hour. Pick an Azure technology and watch short videos, gain experience with live demos, and get hands-on with a free trial account.

 

  • The Azure Stack Operator course teaches the big picture to help you understand the business impact of cloud technologies both on-premises and off-premises. Plus, you’ll see how to enable end users with the tools needed to understand the implementation and management of Azure Stack.

 

  • Exam 70-537: Configuring and Operating a Hybrid Cloud with Microsoft Azure Stack is an exam that’s currently in beta, but you can prep for it and take it now. As you get ready to take the test on how to plan, deploy, and maintain the Azure Stack infrastructure, check out learning options and training to help you gear up. Then, prove your ability to work with hybrid cloud resources and services and to manage IaaS and PaaS.

 

  • The Microsoft Azure site answers the question, What is a hybrid cloud? Explore the specifics, along with related products and services, like Logic Apps to automate the use of data across clouds without writing code, Service Bus to connect across cloud environments, and StorSimple to help lower costs with an enterprise hybrid cloud storage solution.

 

  • Pluralsight offers courses for IT pros looking to extend their datacenter to the cloud. Start with the Microsoft Hybrid Identity—Overview course to get you ready for digital transformation as you implement a hybrid identity with Azure.

Cloud is definitely the future, whether public, private, or hybrid. And lots of organizations are going to hybrid, for many good reasons. As Microsoft Azure experts point out, “Using a hybrid cloud not only allows companies to scale computing resources, it also eliminates the need to make massive capital expenditures to handle short-term spikes in demand.”

 

Want to get started with Azure? Be sure to visit Azure Essentials, where you can quickly build and validate your Azure skills in a style that works for you.

1 Reply

@Eric Starker 

A hybrid cloud is not really a separate type of cloud. Instead, it is a combination of private and public clouds. To coordinate the two cloud platforms, the "sync" layer makes it easy to transfer data and applications to the kind of cloud - public or private - that makes more sense to your business.

For successfully design and deployment of a hybrid cloud system in your enterprise you need to hire a certified and experienced Microsoft Hybrid Cloud Expert. To hire the Microsoft Hybrid Cloud Expert make sure that he has earned the credentials of Microsoft configuring and operating a Hybrid Cloud with Microsoft Azure Stack and has sufficient skills and knowledge to design Microsoft Hybrid Cloud technology in your business.

 

For detail, you may visit the official Microsoft platform anytime.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/exams/70-537