Cloud computing is already one of the most disruptive technologies of our time, and we are still in its early stages. Tech businesses like Intel, VMware, Microsoft and countless others are pouring billions into cloud technologies, and we are now seeing a new generation of cloud computing starting to mature.
Three trends are emerging to drive this evolution. They’re having a significant impact on our cloud strategy—and they may be changing yours as well.
The traditional definition of hybrid cloud is changing.
It used to be that hybrid cloud was simply the combination of on-premises and off-premises IT services. Today, many businesses choose to deploy some type of application in the cloud—making most businesses “hybrid.”
As hybrid cloud becomes the norm, the question of whether you are using a mix of resources from multiple providers will become irrelevant. The massively large “hyperscale” providers will continue to separate out from the specialized, niche players—each offering their own distinct advantages for individual workloads.
The cloud-managed overlay of on-premises applications is coming.
Since the start of outsourced IT, businesses have had concerns about the safety and security of hosting their applications outside of their facilities. Now we are starting to see software that can provide the automation and ease of use of cloud-based management while leaving application assets on premises.
You can now provision virtual desktop infrastructure in the cloud while leaving your desktops in the corporate data center. Or, take your entire disaster recovery automation to the cloud while still being able to fail over between your own data centers. Splitting the application stacks like this will only continue to stretch the definition of hybrid cloud.
The focus on seamless movement of assets and data is at an all-time high.
Last year, VMware released a preview of the live-migration Cross-Cloud vMotion between private clouds and vCloud Air. That means seamlessly, without downtime, moving a virtual machine between an on-premises data center and the cloud.
At the same time, Microsoft announced technology that will let you stretch the MSSQL database by allowing tables to span on-premises servers and AzureDB. This means older database table data is automatically rotated out to AzureDB while the on-premises SQL server can continue to run queries as usual—regardless if data is retrieved locally or from the cloud.
“As these market leaders and others like them continue to evolve their cloud strategies, they are shifting the definition of the cloud. Yesterday, it was all about making the cloud possible. Today, it’s about making it easy.”
Cloud computing will soon be so ubiquitous that it will be impossible to ignore. Zumasys is here to help you integrate and manage the mix of services—both on-site and in the cloud—to find the optimal balance for your organization. That’s why we’re partnering with industry leaders like Microsoft and VMware to advise our customers and help them go beyond traditional hybrid cloud to build multicloud solutions that integrate the best of all worlds.