Hybrid cloud FAQs

We get asked many questions about hybrid cloud. Here, we’ve listed out the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) and summarised the answers for you. Can’t find the question you had in mind? Email your queries to us at [email protected]

Why bother with hybrid cloud?

Companies who adopt true hybrid cloud experience greater flexibility. They find they are able to scale up or down quickly and avoid vendor lock in. This flexibility also enables them to quickly meet the needs of departments across the business, avoiding “shadow IT” where teams go it alone and set up their own IT Software as a Service solutions. Companies using hybrid cloud also save money on training and no longer have to request budget for expensive technology refresh cycles that are needed every few years. Plus, they save on costly server rooms, data centres and hardware.

What happens if I don’t opt for hybrid cloud?

Companies who don’t adopt hybrid cloud will eventually find that their IT departments become unnecessarily busy. New services will be challenging to integrate with existing data. The same common challenges will arise time and time again and little progress will be made. Issues around time, risk and resources will be recurring. You’ll eventually reach an impasse at which point your technology will be holding you back.

Won’t hybrid cloud be complicated and expensive?

The truth is that a move to hybrid cloud will cost you money — although this should be weighed up against the cost of doing nothing, or adopting a piecemeal approach which will inevitably cost you more. We can help you to control and minimise the money you spend on hybrid cloud with a strategic external overview of what you want to achieve, cost modelling and the steps to architect getting you there. With Proact, it doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. Conversely, doing nothing or attempting to reverse-engineer implementations will eventually become complicated and expensive.?

What about security and data?

If you choose not to adopt hybrid cloud and your organisation continues to add in more ad hoc cloud functionality across departments, you will naturally increase gaps in your environment and your security and data will become unstable. There will be multiple vulnerability points alongside potential GDPR and compliance issues. In contrast, a strategic hybrid cloud approach ensures your estate is designed with security in mind from the ground up. Alongside a resilient security posture, you’ll also get greater visibility into the way your estate is being used, as well as providing evidence for governance and compliance if required. What’s more, we can monitor your security consoles across various hyperscalers if you need additional support.

My silos work for me – why change?

Silos are fine if they work for you — but you need to ensure the way you are working is not overprovisioned, wasting time and budget. We recently saved one customer thousands of Euros per month in public cloud spend by eliminating silos and optimising their processes. Plus, they now have effective backup and disaster recovery so they’re better prepared in the event of a crisis.

Our IT transforms organically – what’s wrong with that?

Letting your IT develop organically over time is easy — until it gets complex, which it probably will. And complex then becomes time-consuming, stressful and expensive to manage. We believe it’s time to draw a line in the sand and review your goals and objectives when it comes to organic expansion of cloud. You may find you’re going against what you set out to achieve in the first place: for example, simplicity of management and cost savings. True hybrid cloud that is fit for purpose, scalable and flexible gives you calm and harmonised IT. Don’t let organic cloud expansion run away with your organisation before it’s too late, putting unnecessary pressure on people and budgets.

What value does Proact add?

Put simply, we bring a non-biased approach and years of experience to the table. This ensures you get it right the first time, without being locked in to any specific vendors. We help you to control cost and risk while ensuring you get the best option for your requirements. We take a deep interest in what you are seeking to achieve and architect a solution for you with known costs and no surprises. This means we’ll leave aspects of your environment as they are if it’s right to do so, but also help you with additional elements that we believe could be effective for you.

Contact the team at Proact to streamline your journey to hybrid cloud: [email protected]