Hybrid cloud solutions provide the best of both worlds for enterprise data storage

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The cloud has been making quite the splash in the enterprise recently, providing businesses with a better solution for data storage and mobile working opportunities. As more organizations implement cloud strategies, it is becoming clear that a large number of IT administrators are choosing hybrid environments to make the most out of their cloud investments and experience improved elasticity, availability and security at a reasonable price. Hybrid cloud adoption is growing so quickly, in fact, that the number of businesses implementing a hybrid environment is expected to triple in the next three years, according to Data Center Knowledge contributor Toby Owen.

"Businesses implementing a hybrid environment are expected to triple in the next 3 years."

A major part of the appeal of hybrid cloud deployments is that they offer the best of public and private cloud environments. While many organizations enjoy the convenience and cost-effective aspects of public cloud infrastructure, it can be difficult for IT administrators to approve placing business-critical applications and sensitive data in a public deployment. Private cloud environments offer improved security, as they are managed by the company itself. However, they are less agile than public platforms and can make it difficult for businesses to run efficiently.

"When you look at cloud in general, and you say 'I'm going to take my data, I'm going to store it somewhere that's outside my own data centers,' that already is a big hurdle to cross for many companies," said Rani Osnat, vice president of strategic marketing at data protection hardware provider CTERA Networks. "What you need to do is wrap enough security around it for that company to feel at least as comfortable with that concept as they do with storing it in-house."

Hybrid cloud is a rising star in the business world.Hybrid cloud is a rising star in the business world.

Enterprises see benefits with hybrid cloud solutions
Hybrid clouds merge both of those aspects together, creating an ideal deployment by offering the best of both worlds. Applications that need to be easily accessed can be kept in a more open public environment while sensitive systems and files can be kept in more secure private environments, ensuring all assets have the level of security and accessibility necessary. However, while the security and agility benefits of hybrid cloud deployments have made the option increasingly popular, a number of factors have played a part in the hybrid cloud boom, including price, performance and capacity.

Cost: According to research conducted by technology market research firm Vanson Bourne, cost is consistently reported as being a major factor when IT administrators are deciding on cloud investments. Since cloud computing is able to lower costs by reducing the amount of physical equipment necessary, the choice has become popular with many enterprises. Hybrid cloud infrastructure helps organizations reduce costs even more by offering businesses the ability to choose cloud features à la carte, picking everything from the operating system to the firewall protections. When companies customize each piece of their cloud environment, they are able to have total control over the cost, resulting in significant price reductions for most enterprises.

Performance: The technology that goes into a hybrid cloud deployment has grown increasingly sophisticated over the last few years, offering improved functionality and accessibility as well as enhanced capabilities. Today's hybrid cloud solutions are starting to incorporate many advanced offerings from infrastructure and software providers. Because these environments incorporate sophisticated features like disaster recovery, bare metal and virtual servers, online portals and HPC capabilities, service providers are able to offer hybrid cloud solution bundles that can meet the specific requirements of individual businesses. With more use cases and wider applications, hybrid cloud is a natural solution for businesses of all sizes.

Capacity: One of the most pressing reasons so many organizations are turning to hybrid cloud solutions is due to a need for more data storage capacity. A growing number of enterprises are now utilizing big data analytics, and Gartner has predicted that 80 percent of business processes and products will be reinvented, digitized or totally eliminated due to big data by 2020. Dealing with such a massive amount of information requires companies to utilize a cloud solution that is not only agile enough to handle processing such large amounts of data, but has the capacity to store the information in the first place. Hybrid cloud is the reliable answer, melding security and agility into one ideal platform.

Having trouble managing data volume? Try converged infrastructure

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As a growing number of businesses across just about all industries adopt new tech trends like bring-your-own-device policies, big data analytics and the Internet of Things, the volume of information stored by such organizations is reaching increasingly high levels. The ability to collect and share data is more important than ever, but traditional information management systems have difficulties handling the rising workloads. In an attempt to manage the growing amounts of data, many companies have scaled their existing IT infrastructure by incorporating disparate systems on outdated technology. This creates overly complex IT environments and puts even more strain on storage setups and IT administrators.

So what are enterprises to do? The current business environment calls for faster and more agile access to critical data, and the systems being used now are complicated and detrimental to the health of a company. To gain the competitive advantages necessary to stay ahead of the game, many organizations are now deploying converged infrastructure.

Growing volumes of data can be better managed with a converged infrastructure. Growing volumes of data can be better managed with a converged infrastructure.

Moving to a converged infrastructure

“The integrated infrastructure market increased by nearly 34% in 2014.”

Instead of buying one-off machines and separate CPU, storage and network components and having to configure them all, converged infrastructure allows IT administrators to access an preconfigured, integrated experience in a box. A growing number of enterprises are seeing the advantages to implementing converged infrastructure, according to research firm IDC. In the second quarter of 2014, the integrated infrastructure and platforms market increased by nearly 34 percent year-over-year and revenue for the first half of 2014 rose 36 percent.

Converged systems scale out performance and capacity by virtualizing computing and storage power across multiple nodes. Data protection and failover are managed between the nodes, and clients typically must start with a minimum of three to account for availability. Once the system has been implemented, users can add nodes on an individual basis in order to increase storage and computing resources.

There are a variety of benefits to converged infrastructure:

  • Faster Provisioning: By employing a converged infrastructure model, a job that may have once required a provisioning time of three weeks can be cut down to less than an hour in some instances.
  • Lowers costs: With convergence, fewer single-use components are needed, and fewer components will be used in the data center overall. This decrease means fewer components to manage, troubleshoot and operate, as well as a reduction in the physical footprint of the data center or other IT facility.
  • Simpler management infrastructure: A converged infrastructure centralizes the management of servers, networks and storage, creating more streamlined daily maintenance. This requires less personnel and a lower knowledge base as opposed to traditional upkeep, freeing up skilled tech workers for more business-critical functions.
  • Quicker IT response: Creates a more agile way to respond to changes in the marketplace or with business priorities.
  • Reduced siloing of IT teams: Instead of managing storage and CPU separately, everything is done together. Fewer overall IT resources are needed with converged infrastructure and more knowledge and cross-training becomes available throughout the business.
  • Improved control: Control is now centralized and management of multiple functions and devices can take place at one time.
  • Scalability and flexibility: Allows the capacity of the entire data center or IT footprint to be quickly adjusted to meet client demands.

Converged infrastructure offers business considerable savings as opposed to traditional approaches. As the market continues to evolve, systems will become simplified and more third-party integrators will emerge to take over the task from in-house teams. This will lead to increased options and lower costs. Modern converged systems focus management on virtual machines, moving commodity computing resources and disks to the background. As the market continues to grow, more options will emerge that offer both options in combined nodes, enabling improved scalability. Sometimes referred to as hyperconvergence, this unites storage, computing a networking in a single unit around a hypervisor that takes care of all of the management duties.

With enterprise data volumes increasing all the time and as the need for reliable, agile and secure management solutions become more important, working with a third-party service provider to create a converged infrastructure solution is more often than not the best way for business to access competitive advantages.

Yes, your company's data is safe in the cloud

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Despite its growing presence in the business world, there are still IT administrators that are hesitant to deploy cloud initiatives because of concerns about data security and privacy.

It is smart to be concerned about the security of enterprise information, especially when it is being hosted on a relatively new infrastructure. However, an increasing amount of research has shown that not only is the cloud safe, it may even be more secure than on-premises platforms. Any data that can be accessed externally – whether cloud-based or on-premises – is at risk from hackers.

A report by Alert Logic on the state of cloud security revealed that businesses utilizing on-premises storage environments experienced more security incidents than those without cloud solutions, more than twice the amount, in fact. The lower rate of cyberattacks targeting cloud-based solutions is likely due to the fact that service providers are able to focus more on security and governance than organizations that build their own data environments.

Consider all aspects of security
A main component many IT decision-makers forget when discussing information security is confidentiality. As long as the proper access controls are in place and data can only be seen by those who require it, it remains safe. The cloud seems to fly in the face of this idea, as it involves handing over control of information to a service provider. But in reality, using cloud storage services causes businesses to take a harder look at who has access to what data, improving the overall security of enterprise information.

Private cloud environments allow users to keep their data away from that of other companies, and some providers even go so far as to keep encryption keys on client devices so only the data’s owner has access. Many data breaches IT decision-makers believe are caused by the cloud are actually the result of insufficient data security policies and a lack of oversight by in-house IT staff.

Implementing a private cloud storage solution allows sensitive enterprise information to be kept in an environment with integrated security measures, increasing data defense. Only one company’s information is stored within a private environment, which eliminates the chance of outside eyes prying on sensitive data. Working with a knowledgeable service provider is a great way to craft a solution that is tailored to your organization and ensure business-critical information is protected.

Top 3 IT trends impacting data center infrastructure

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As technology continues to play an increasingly large role in the enterprise, the investment in infrastructure to sustain the necessary hardware and software has become overwhelming for many organizations, especially those in the public sector. Managing in-house IT systems without the help of an expert third party can sometimes be incredibly expensive and complicated, and few agencies have the budget or manpower to address server sprawl or maintain outdated systems and infrastructure components on their own. Conversely, while many organizations are offloading assets to the public cloud, such a strategy involves giving up a lot of control and direct oversight over data, something that government agencies simply can't do.

In order to cope with growing technological demands, many public sector organizations are now looking to take advantage of emerging IT trends – hybrid cloud computing, mobility, big data –  to offload their data center operations. State and local agencies are beginning to take advantage of the increased capabilities these new innovations offer by modernizing their data center technologies and applying hybrid cloud services wherever possible. These changes help to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of their data center infrastructure, as well as protect against hardware and software failure.

Mobility
Public sector IT administrators find themselves caught between a rock and a hard place with new mobile technologies, as they offer employees a variety of benefits but also present widespread security and infrastructure challenges. Network strain, increased bandwidth demands, additional storage needs and more strict security measures all become necessary when an increased number of mobile devices are put to work within an organization. Most public sector IT departments do not have the human or fiscal resources necessary to improve and secure mobile access as they are already at their limits trying to support current data center operations. To solve this problem, many organizations are employing virtualized machines and storage to keep up with the bandwidth demands and user expectations.

Hybrid cloud computing
The ability of cloud solutions – when properly paired with on-premises options – to reduce server sprawl and maintenance worries are drawing many government agencies to the technology, and many have adopted cloud services for all of their routine business processes. A survey of government IT executives conducted last year by American City & County magazine revealed that almost half of all respondents utilized cloud services, with the most common use case being email and data storage. Participants reported experiencing a number of advantages after employing a cloud platform, including better accessibility from mobile devices, reduced IT infrastructure build-out and maintenance cost and improved management efficiency. While many government agencies aren't able to use public cloud providers because they do not hold the necessary state and local certifications, alternative solutions like colocation and shared private cloud environments are rapidly being employed. 

Big data
With so many business functions revolving around the Internet these days, government agencies and public sector organizations are dealing with massive amounts of data on a daily basis. The advent of big data analytics is making these data stockpiles incredibly useful by allowing groups to improve efficiency and decision-making, as well as creating a better understanding of citizens' needs. However, most agencies have less than half of the necessary storage capacity and computing power to effectively leverage their big data initiatives, according to the American City & County survey.

A major hurdle when employing data analytics is sufficiently meeting federal, state and local regulations regarding the proper collection and storage of data. In order to effectively secure their information, IT departments should look to utilize a tiered storage model. Each tier is dictated by specific spending, access and capacity requirements, providing each type of data with the right amount of access and security, which is generally more cost effective. Different categories of data are assigned to different types of storage solutions, placing the most sensitive information that is frequently accessed in storage from which it can be retrieved easily and data that is less critical would be kept in lower storage.

Increasing focus on data center infrastructure
Taking advantage of the hybrid cloud, mobility and big data can completely transform public sector IT operations, but changes must be made to data center infrastructure. Agencies can improve the way they manage their computing facilit​ies and boost data center efficiency by making enhancements in key areas like power usage, virtualization, data storage and network infrastructure. Changes in any of these categories would contribute to the improved efficiency, performance and cost savings of data center infrastructure, as well as creating more resilient facility. 

Big data causing big changes in the enterprise

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A lot of IT buzzwords get thrown around without there ever really being any context as to what the technology does for a business or how many companies are actually utilizing it. For 2015, that buzzword is definitely “big data”. It pops up everywhere, but what is the real picture? According to a recent study by EMC, big data is more than just a buzzword, it’s a necessary tool for enterprise success.

The recent report “Big & Fast Data: The Rise of Insight-Driven Business” sponsored by Capgemini revealed that a growing number of companies are investing in big data initiatives and are seeing positive results. According to the study, 70 percent of IT decision-makers believe their organization’s ability to extract value from big data is critical to their future success. Another 65 percent said that they risk becoming irrelevant or losing a competitive advantage if they don’t utilize big data.

Businesses bracing for shifts as big data takes hold
The study, which included interviews with more than 1,000 senior executives and decision-makers across nine industries in 10 countries, provides a variety of insights into how companies are responding to the changes big data has brought to the enterprise. More than half of respondents believe that investments in big data will outstrip past investment in information management over the next three years. This is due in part to the fact that 63 percent of participants believe the monetization of data could potentially become as valuable as existing products and services. This is especially true among those in the telecommunications sector, where 83 percent of respondents agreed with the statement.

One of the most significant statistics is the fact that 47 percent of senior executives believe their organizations’ IT systems are not properly optimized to allow business decision-makers to do their jobs effectively. These executives reported seeing a need for increasing the cadence of their IT systems’ improvement to keep up with the increasing client, supplier and stakeholder requirements outside of their organizations.

In order to accommodate all of the changes brought about by the increased use of big data, businesses will need to ensure that their data center solutions and IT infrastructure are up to the challenge. Working with a trusted service provider to upgrade infrastructure and improve data center performance is the most reliable way to ensure that new big data initiatives will be implemented successfully.

C-Suites increasing concerned about cybersecurity

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For retailers, the cybersecurity horror stories are almost too numerous to count: Target, Neiman Marcus, Home Depot, etc. But for executives in other sectors, the cautionary tale is that of health insurer Anthem.

For directors of companies in industries like finance and health care that are centered around client trust, suffering a major breach like the one that hit Anthem at the beginning of 2015 is just as devastating. More than 80 million account holders were affected during the breach, making it the largest hack of its kind. In an interview with CIO, Peter Gleason, president of the National Association of Corporate Directors, explained that decision-makers in these industries are especially on edge right now because cyberattacks are in the news every day and are kept front of mind.

“It’s the foremost issue on directors’ minds right now because it’s tied into the risk structure of the organization,” said Gleason.

“Last year nearly 43 million security incidents were detected.”

While the risks associated with hackers and cyberattacks are the hottest topic in board meetings, corporate oversight of cybersecurity follows behind in a close second. Last year nearly 43 million security incidents were detected, an increase of 48 percent from 2013, according to research by professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. The average cost of those incidents was around $2.7 million, and the amount of businesses that reported losing more than $20 million due to a security incident increased 92 percent between 2013 and 2014. Perhaps the most worrying statistic is that as many as 71 percent of cyberattack victims did not detect the hack themselves, but instead were informed by a third party about the issue.

Recent data breach increases are causing executives to step up cybersecurity conversations.Recent data breach increases are causing executives to step up cybersecurity conversations.

Data breaches come with silver lining
While this may all seem like bad news, it does come with a silver lining. According to a recent study by business risk consulting firm Protiviti, there is a positive correlation between how much the board is engaged with cybersecurity and the strength of IT security solutions. The prevalence of data breaches has forced decision-makers to be more concerned with their organizations’ cybersecurity posture and fostered increased communication between CIOs and board members.

“By providing corporate directors with meaningful intelligence on a regular basis, savvy CIOs and CISOs not only educate their boards about the issues they should focus on as they oversee security-related initiatives; they also garner high-level support for building robust security systems and adopting processes and policies necessary to protect corporate data,” CIO contributor Stephanie Overby noted.

Cybercriminals continue to grow more sophisticated and invent new attack methods to target organizations storing large amounts of data. One of the most reliable ways to protect client data is to utilize cloud storage services. Information stored in the cloud is easily encrypted and can be kept in a separate place from other enterprise information. Employing a cloud solution also improves business continuity procedures by keeping sensitive data in the cloud as duplicate data can be stored off-site and kept safe in case a system is compromised or a disruptive event were to occur.

5 steps to preventing data loss in the cloud

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Anyone operating in the enterprise today has come in contact with the cloud in some form. But, despite the ubiquitous nature of the technology, not all users are as well versed in cloud best practices as they need to be in order to prevent data loss. Security continues to lead the pack with it comes to CIOs’ concerns about cloud computing despite the fact that the technology has been around for nearly a decade already. The online threat landscape has grown more dangerous and many companies are at a loss as to how to improve security. For any enterprise looking for a way to use the cloud safely and prevent data loss, here are five basic tips:

1: Perform a cloud risk assessment
The main goal of this process is for companies to take an inventory of all the cloud applications in use and find where their data is actually being stored within the network. With that information in hand, IT decision-makers can develop an ‘as is’ cloud assessment and accurately understand what’s really going on. After inventory has been completed, the enterprise network should be surveyed to identify the company’s current cloud footprint and a data flow map should be created. Once applications are cataloged and all data is accounted for, each program should be given a risk score that takes into account the level of trust the organization has for the service and process.

2: Find any gaps between perceived security and actual security
This step helps businesses find any discrepancies between regulatory compliance needs – like PCI or HIPAA – and what is actually going on in the network. Discovering what areas have the biggest gaps can help decision-makers find the best way to address the issue and improve enterprise compliance.

There are a few simple steps every company can take to make their cloud safer.There are a few simple steps every company can take to make their cloud deployment safer.

3: Build a plan to combat shadow IT
One of the biggest cloud security issues facing companies today is shadow IT, or employees using unapproved programs for work purposes. To address this problem, organizations should take the data gathered during the first two steps and use it to create an action plan. Consulting with legal, security and procurement specialists can be beneficial during this process as well.

4: Choose a cloud framework to deploy
Once a comprehensive analysis of the enterprise’s needs has been done, it’s time to find a cloud platform that will successfully meet those demands. First, IT executives have to decide between a public, private or hybrid environment and then look for a service provider that offers the reliability, features and client service necessary to keep operations up and running smoothly.

” Look for a service provider that offers the necessary reliability, features and client service.”

5: Determine and implement cloud best practices
There are specific policies that each company will need to create on its own in order to accommodate and protect business functions, but there are other, more general recommendations that apply to anyone using the cloud. In order to get started when creating enterprise best practices, the Cloud Security Alliance offers a list of common policies  and the Cloud Best Practices Network provides case studies to help build better long term strategies.

Businesses look toward converged infrastructures to boost data center performance

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As collecting and storing data becomes an increasingly critical part of the enterprise, businesses are starting to pay more attention to the infrastructure needed to handle such key workloads. In order to ensure reliable operations with such an influx of information, data center operators are turning to a variety of innovative methods to improve data handling while lowering costs. One of the most popular of these methods is convergence.

Practically every major cloud platform provider now offers some type of converged infrastructure, and some are even going so far as to realign their business models to work more effectively with the concept. HP is one such company that is making major strides toward accepting convergence architecture. The tech giant is looking to combine blade servers and its CI division to increase the speed of development and provide channel partners with more integrated solutions that help deployment and integration processes happen more quickly.

Convergence is the way of the future for <a data-cke-saved-href=Convergence is the way of the future for data center operations.

Changes to networking essential for improved data management
When talking about a converged infrastructure, the key element is networking. Server and storage components function basically the same in a converged solution as they would traditionally, but they work in closer proximity to one another. However, as convergence gains more popularity among service providers, networking will evolve to become more of a fabric architecture, according to Information Age contributor Ben Rossi. This change will bring about a variety of challenges.

"As convergence gains more popularity, networking will have to evolve."

Providers will have to take a different approach to virtual networking. Provisioning and setup may be possible with only a simple overlay, but such a solution may inhibit performance as scale increases. A high degree of application awareness will also be necessary to optimize performance in key workloads, meaning simple automation won't be enough to deliver an optimal user experience. In order to address this issue, converged platforms will have to be provisioned to address specific workloads and support an overarching, integrated architecture that allows for simplified migration and data connectivity.

One of the biggest mistakes enterprises make when changing their internal IT infrastructure is trying to do all of the work themselves despite a lack of training and expertise. In order to avoid this common problem, enterprise decision-makers should work alongside a trusted service provider to ensure a successful implementation. By working together with a reliable industry partner, companies can create a customized infrastructure that works for them.

Top 4 benefits of deploying enterprise cloud services

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By now, most companies have been told that they can achieve numerous benefits by moving to the cloud. But it seems that newer businesses are more likely to understand the specific advantages that they can experience with the technology, whereas older, more established organizations are still hesitant to adopt the cloud because they are unaware of the individual benefits they will receive. The recent AT&T Small Business Tech Poll found that 51 percent of companies less than two years old utilize cloud services, while just 40 percent of businesses that have been running for 11 years or more employ the cloud in some capacity.

Older companies won't be able to wait much longer before adopting the cloud without getting left behind by their competition. Here are four of the biggest benefits enterprises can realize by deploying the cloud:

1) Back up and store data
Cloud storage services and data backup are two of the most popular uses of the technology among businesses. According to the AT&T poll, 63 percent of respondents who already use the cloud relied on these types of services. Utilizing online backup and storage features helps protect organizations from a variety of threats that can lead to disruptions in access or network downtime, such as malware infections and natural disasters. Working with a trusted service provider increases this protection even further, as they will often store client data on multiple servers so if one goes down, the others retain the necessary availability.

2) Instant computing power
One of the benefits that has made the cloud an ubiquitous technology is the ability to access computing resources on demand. This has made the cloud the platform of choice for many organizations looking to test new applications without making a large upfront investment. The cloud also makes it very simple for businesses to scale their service, easily accommodating surges in demand. If the new application that's been developed turns out to be a much bigger hit than anticipated, enterprises can immediately increase service without having to buy new servers that will sit unused once demand dissipates. 

3) Access to business software
After backup and storage services, the second most frequently used feature of the cloud is the ability to access versions of boxed software online. This includes the availability of programs for business processes like bookkeeping, word processing and contact management. The AT&T poll found that 46 percent of small businesses that take advantage of the cloud do so to access productivity tools online. Software based in the cloud allows organizations to eliminate licensing fees and improves mobility by enabling employees to access the necessary software from any Internet-connected device. Updates are made available automatically, increasing security and providing users with the latest features with no additional hassle.

4) Improve collaboration
Many organizations also find the cloud useful in enabling employees to work from home more effectively. A growing number of companies have a workforce that is dispersed throughout multiple locations, and collaborating between those different places can be difficult for colleagues without the appropriate tools. The cloud makes it easy to access file-sharing services and communication features so work can be edited in real time while co-workers have a conversation about the changes being made.

Uncovering the hidden benefits of the cloud

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At this point, you'd be hard pressed to find an enterprise decision-maker who wasn't familiar with the cloud or the benefits that come along with it. Countless experts and industry writers have espoused the virtues of cloud computing, from improved scalability to reduced costs. But there are a number of other advantages that are rarely discussed when talking about moving to the cloud, and they are just as relevant if not more so to today's businesses.

Flexibility
When most people talk about flexibility in relation to cloud computing, they're talking about the ability to be more mobile and complete work from anywhere. And while that is offered by the cloud, this type of flexibility has more to do with allocating resources and easily changing business strategies. The cloud is able to free up time and resources, enabling organizations to create and test out new products and resources with minimal upfront investments. This is made possible by providing the necessary amount of on-demand resources and helping enterprises create new configurations in a shorter amount of time.

Globalization
One of the untapped benefits of cloud computing is the ability to more easily and effectively enter new markets, even those halfway around the world. Deploying a workforce to another country used to be incredibly difficult, but with the cloud the entire staff can access the same files and data no matter where they're located. With increased global accessibility, delays are eliminated, miscommunications are reduced and collaboration is increased, making it much easier to expand a company.

Energy Savings
This is perhaps the best kept secret in technology. So many companies focus on the cost benefits of cloud storage services that they never mention that there are environmental advantages as well. The energy savings associated with cloud computing can come from a variety of places. Fewer machines are needed, and the remaining machines can be run more efficiently with higher utilization rates. Virtualization offers a reduction in the amount of equipment and energy necessary to run an operation, dramatically decreasing a business' carbon footprint.