On paper, the idea of combining “best of both worlds” – on-premise systems and Private or Public Cloud resources, seems like a dream come true. And in all fairness, Hybrid Cloud does offer some major perks, like flexibility, scalability, and cost-effectiveness.

However, as more businesses pursue hybrid cloud adoption, some challenges and complexities are also inevitable. This is primarily because implementing this kind of environment can get tricky, especially without the right approach.

In this blog, we dive into the challenges that companies confront, when adopting hybrid cloud solutions and more importantly, how can businesses avoid them.

1. Inadequate Planning and Flawed Strategy

If you do not have a clear plan for Hybrid Cloud adoption, you are setting yourself up for troubles. Too many organizations dive into the Cloud Computing space, without first thinking through a solid strategy.

This can lead to many issues, such as:

• Incompatibility between your legacy systems, and newer Cloud technologies.
• Poor workload distribution, which means you are not utilizing your resources efficiently.
• IT and business teams not being aligned on goals, which can lead to confusion and chaos across the organization.

To avoid this, you need a well thought-out plan, that considers your existing environment, future goals, and unique business needs, along with a reliable technology partner, like ATSG, that can offer support every step of the way.

ATSG Hybrid Cloud Services offer un-matched flexibility, by seamlessly combining our resilient and high performance Private Cloud with your on-premise IT infrastructure. In addition to our own private cloud, we also offer integration of Cloud environments provisioned via Azure and AWS, with your on-premise IT infrastructure. Our multi-vendor approach delivers endless possibilities for organizations that are planning a phased migration to the Cloud.

2. Security Considerations in Hybrid Environments

There are multiple elements to protect in a Hybrid Cloud environment – your on-prem systems, Cloud platforms, and the intricate connectivity between them. This complexity increases the risk of data breaches and compliance gaps, especially if you are not careful.

Some other common cloud security challenges include:

• Preventing vulnerabilities from popping-up in your infrastructure.
• Maintaining a secure environment across all platforms, which is not always easy.
• Safeguarding data transfers between different IT environments.

ATSG addresses these concerns through multi-layered security mechanisms, that span across on-premise, Cloud, and hybrid environments. With built-in safeguards and strong regulatory compliance, ATSG’s Hybrid Cloud Services deliver organizations peace of mind, as they transition to hybrid models.

3. Cost Overruns and Diminishing Value

Another major pitfall with Hybrid Cloud migration is the risk of cost overruns, especially if businesses are not careful. Many assume that moving to the Cloud automatically means cost savings, but that is not always the case.

This is where things can potentially go wrong:

• Cloud costs can sneak-up on you, if you do not fully understand how pricing works in a Hybrid Cloud setup.
• Inefficient resource allocation, whether over or under-provisioning, can lead to wasted money, or sub-par performance.
• At times, the pricing structures of cloud services can be difficult to predict, making accurate budgeting difficult.
• Issues related to virtual server provisioning can also cause un-expected cost spikes, and performance dips.

To prevent these cost surprises, ATSG offers transparent and flat-rate pricing, that lets you plan ahead, without worrying about hidden fees. This gives you cost predictability that is similar to an on-prem IT environment, making it easier to budget, and ultimately expand your Hybrid Cloud deployment, without worrying about fluctuating expenses.

4. Performance and Scalability Issues

Major factors that contribute to the success of hybrid cloud solutions are performance optimization and scalability. However, if you do not know your environment’s limitations and fail to plan accordingly, things might not run as smoothly as expected.

Some key challenges include:

• Optimizing performance across both on-prem and Cloud environments.
• Scaling your infrastructure to meet business growth needs, while understanding the limitations of your systems.
• Managing workloads efficiently, to avoid bottlenecks or potential application conflicts.

With ATSG, you can avoid these challenges by leveraging our global footprint of Equinix data centers, which offer the flexibility to scale rapidly, without sacrificing performance. And with the ATSG Cloud Manager, you can easily integrate and manage your hybrid environment, ensuring seamless operations as you scale up or down.

5. Integration and Management Complexity

Combining on-prem systems with Cloud-based platforms can also bring about some interoperability or compatibility issues. Juggling multiple platforms, tools, and workflows requires a highly specialized technical skillset, that most businesses find difficult to sustain.

Without the right Cloud management tools in place, you could end up with the following challenges:

• Integrating your existing systems with new Cloud platforms.
• Managing all the tools and processes needed to keep everything running smoothly.
• Gaining full visibility and control over your Hybrid Cloud resources.

The key to this is finding the right management platform. ATSG Cloud Manager, for instance, simplifies the process by providing a unified solution for managing hybrid environments.

From monitoring performance to managing security, and optimizing workloads, our platform takes complexity out of the equation, so you do not have to wrestle with multiple tools.

Conclusion

While Hybrid Cloud models offer flexibility, scalability, and agility, these perks are only as good as the planning, implementation, and management behind them. By recognizing and addressing the pitfalls discussed above, whether it is poor planning, security gaps, ballooning costs, performance hiccups, or tricky integrations, businesses can ensure a successful hybrid cloud journey.

ATSG can help you overcome these challenges with tailored Hybrid Cloud Services, built on the foundation of robust compliance, cost predictability, and global service delivery. For companies seeking to unlock the full potential of hybrid cloud, ATSG can prove a really good fit.

Let ATSG be your trusted partner in navigating the Hybrid Cloud, and turning challenges into opportunities.