Private, Public and Hybrid Cloud – What’s The Difference?

In my recent conversation on digital transformation with Ivo Koerner, VP of IBM Systems, we examined the impact of cloud computing. We examined three models of cloud – public, private and hybrid – that organizations are adopting in order to effectively work with big data and artificial intelligence in order to drive efficiency and growth.

All three models share similarities, allowing you to store and manage large datasets and deploy advanced applications without needing to own – or even see – the infrastructure they are running on, and only paying for what you use. However, there are important differences that mean it is essential to choose the one that best fits your needs.

The term “public cloud” refers to cloud storage and compute solutions provides “as-a-service”, such as the platforms offered by tech giants including IBM, Amazon, Google and Microsoft.

Generally speaking, these provide the simplest points of entry to cloud computing for most businesses. You simply pay for the services you need and the amount of data or compute power you require, and you avoid much of the hassle that comes with setting up your own servers, software and security.

What they can lack, though, is the flexibility that comes with setting up and maintaining your own data infrastructure. This is where private cloud comes in – essentially meaning you set up your own data centers to provide the same sort of services as those available through public clouds, but specifically tailored to your own organization.

“I think we can build the same [public cloud services] in your own data center – that’s basically the private cloud. You own the asset, or the company owns the asset, but you provide the same level of service to the business. You can switch on and switch off and consume as you need,” says Ivo.

This means your own cloud can be tailored to meet the specific needs of your business. While public cloud providers are always adding new features and tools that make them suitable for an ever-growing range of tasks, they still lack the flexibility of a truly bespoke solution.

What if you want the flexibility of a private cloud with the power and simplicity of a public model? That’s where the hybrid cloud model comes in.

“What we think is going to happen – and is happening in reality today,” he continues, “Is that first of all, as a company, you will have multiple clouds.

“You’re not going to just use IBM Cloud or Microsoft Azure, most likely you will use a combination and that’s why we call it a multi-cloud environment.”

The third option – or rather, what in reality is the “third leg” of a multi-cloud approach, is hybrid cloud. And just as it sounds, this term refers to splitting your workload across a combination of infrastructures, including both proprietary and third-party solutions.

“It’s a combination of both worlds,” Ivo says – “You have workloads on your private cloud, which is your own asset, and you have [other] workloads on the public cloud.”

The reason for this is simply that different tasks and situations will require different approaches. In reality no one-size-fits-all approach is likely to efficiently meet all of your needs, particularly as your business – and the volume and variety of data you are working with – grows.

Perhaps the most pertinent example here is when you are dealing with personal or sensitive data – for example, health or social security data. There are complex regulations around the way this data can be collected, stored and analyzed, that can often make the process of transferring it to and from a public cloud environment difficult and expensive.

“The first thing you need to think about is where is my data residing – that’s the first decision, because data is usually the stick part – it’s not the applications because they move fast, but moving data is a complex process,” says Ivo. “Moving a petabyte of data from the private cloud to public cloud and back – that’s a very costly thing to do … there are regulatory requirements that you need to fill.”

This means another advantage of the hybrid model is that you can rely on public cloud services for data that requires its specific advantages – simplicity of setup and scalability – while relying on your private cloud infrastructure where you need flexibility and regulatory compliance.

After working out where the best place for any data to live is, then you need to think about your applications – the tools that you use to clean, analyze and report on your data.

The advantage of a hybrid approach here is that you don’t need to immediately go “all in” by committing to a public or private cloud model for your organization’s data needs. Elements of your infrastructure can be kept in-house, under your complete control, while processes are built and deployed, then scaled out to the public cloud as your operations grow.

The third point that is essential to consider, says Ivo, is cost – “Where can you run your workload to make it cost efficient?”

To summarize, according to Ivo the three main considerations that need to be taken into account when deciding where to take public, private or hybrid approaches are:

• Government regulatory requirements – is it safe to store your data outside of your own direct control, in the public cloud?
• Where do you need your data to be – so it can be accessed quickly by the applications that you need to get it to?
• Cost – though public cloud might seem cheaper at first, as the amount of data you are dealing with grows, it can get expensive.

Cloud computing certainly offers a powerful and flexible approach to information technology architecture – allowing organizations of any size to take advantage of tools and infrastructure previously only available to global-scale tech giants. Taking these three points into consideration is the first step towards making it work for your business.

Here is an overview of IBM's infrastructure solutions aimed to support any of these Cloud scenarios, including enterprise-grade accessible solutions for business looking to get start on their Cloud journey. 

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About Bernard Marr

Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling author, popular keynote speaker, futurist, and a strategic business & technology advisor to governments and companies. He helps organisations improve their business performance, use data more intelligently, and understand the implications of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, blockchains, and the Internet of Things.

LinkedIn has ranked Bernard as one of the world’s top 5 business influencers. He is a frequent contributor to the World Economic Forum and writes a regular column for Forbes. Every day Bernard actively engages his 1.5 million social media followers and shares content that reaches millions of readers.

For more on AI and technology trends, see Bernard Marr’s book Artificial Intelligence in Practice: How 50 Companies Used AI and Machine Learning To Solve Problems and his forthcoming book Tech Trends in Practice: The 25 Technologies That Are Driving The 4Th Industrial Revolution, which is available to pre-order now.