In recent years, cloud computing has become a household name for many businesses. But the technology also continues to evolve to meet varying company needs. There are three deployment methods used in cloud computing: private, public, and hybrid cloud storage. Although private and public are the two general methods of cloud search, combining both to create hybrid cloud business intelligence allows companies to better leverage technology and use it to innovate their business processes.

Public cloud computing

A public cloud is wholly owned by a third-party who maintains their own set of hardware, applications, services, interfaces, and storage. These third-party providers offer their services to individuals or companies who would like to benefit from cloud search but do not have their infrastructure. 

Public cloud storage also offers highly scalable data storage capabilities, at a cost, to companies who need to manage specific types of workloads such as email archiving and storage. An obvious benefit of public cloud storage is that you don’t necessarily see what goes on in the background, but you have access to a reliable system.

Depending on the feature of the public cloud storage solution, a company may access different applications for optimizing a variety of business operations. The third party provider can support a large number of business customers while at the same time maintaining optimum service quality.

Private cloud computing

Conversely, a private cloud computing service is specifically designed and created for a company. The company has exclusive rights to use and manage the infrastructure even if the system was created by a third-party.

What sets it apart from public cloud storage is the highly controlled working environment. It is not accessible to the general public, which further enhances its security feature.

Hybrid cloud computing

A hybrid cloud combines the features of private and public cloud computing where touch points exist between both deployment methods. The primary objective of using hybrid cloud storage is to marry services and highlights from each cloud model to create a customized approach to cloud business intelligence.

A company employing hybrid cloud search aims to create value from the combination of services. It is important to distinguish that even if a company uses some form of public or private cloud computing, it does not automatically equate to hybrid cloud services.

How to distinguish a true hybrid cloud service

Here are some indications that a company is using hybrid cloud computing:

•When the company is using a variety of Software as a Service applications and seamlessly moves data from private to public data centers and vice versa.

•If a company employs a public development platform to send data to a private cloud.

•When the company has designed business processes as a service that interacts with both public and private environments seamlessly.

Choosing a deployment method depends on the priorities of the company. It also depends on the level of autonomy and control they want over the information they share. Most companies concerned with data security would prefer private or hybrid cloud computing over public services.

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