By Bolaji Okunola
A member of Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria, Akeredolu Isaac Rotimi has proffered solution to hybrid-cloud computing challenges, network problems and data difficulty rocking computer literates in the country.
Rotimi, a cloud solution architect, disclosed this while addressing the press in Lagos. Having frowned at the recent network problems which halted online activities in Africa and other part of the world, the AWS and OCI certified Cloud Solutions Architect hinted the challenge can be eradicated with the help of expertise across the globe.
In his words: “Hybrid-Cloud computing has evolved from what was perceived as “…yet another innovative concept” into a formidable cutting-edge solution that has allowed businesses to respond quickly to market demands by offering a computing environment that uses a blend of on-premises, private cloud, and public clouds. According to Fortinet, on October 14, 2021, 92% of enterprises have a multi-cloud strategy and 80% have a hybrid cloud strategy. Even though the idea of a Hybrid Cloud Computing has been around for a while, there have been quite a few difficulties that have characterized its adoption.”
“One common justification for employing a hybrid environment is to facilitate a transition to a full cloud deployment. The journey to hybrid-cloud deployment always begins by transforming fragments of an organization’s on-premises data center into private cloud infrastructure and then linking the infrastructure to public cloud environments that are hosted off-premises by two (2) or more cloud service providers.”
“Since hybrid-cloud regularly involves a blend of technologies and vendors, the level of complication and the amount of planning required to manage these platforms are at an increasing rate. Below are some of the challenges to choosing a hybrid-cloud strategy and the ways to combat them,” he stated.
Narrating the challenges and the increased in the operational complexity, Rotimi revealed many businesses have leveraged on hybrid-cloud technologies to fast track the journey of digital business.
“One thing that has stood out as long-standing challenge is the administration of multifaceted networking between information infrastructures on-premises and the public clouds. Despite the huge benefits of hybrid-cloud adoption, it has also added layers of network complexity particularly when cloud services are added in an unplanned manner. The challenge is that each cloud environment is distinctive, and devices that span multiple cloud environments need to be able to connect flawlessly, and work between different cloud environments without losing capabilities.”
“Over the years, many businesses have leveraged on hybrid-cloud technologies to fast track the journey to becoming a digital business. From administration and security point of view, it is an undisputable fact that Information Technology environments become more complex as businesses deploy more public cloud services and add private cloud capabilities. Organizations that are into hybrid-cloud deployment are therefore advised to build a safe, and high-performing network by leveraging the simplicity and scalability of software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) to provide application-aware network infrastructure that cuts across multiple cloud environments.”
“Additionally, to overcome the complexity involved in hybrid-cloud deployments, companies may consider Hybrid-Cloud solutions that are designed to blend the boundaries between cloud and on-premises for a real hybrid cloud experience. For instance, Nutanix provides hybrid-cloud solutions for customers looking to quickly deploy and integrate their present on-premises datacenters with multiple public clouds. The self-service nature of these hybrid-cloud solutions provide complete flexibility and control for managing computing environments spread across on-premises, private cloud, and public clouds.”
“To create a more diverse cloud ecosystem, business have had to combine private cloud services on on-premises infrastructure and cloud services from multiple cloud providers to meet their unique cloud computing requirements. Though this type of cloud deployment facilitates flexibility, scalability, and resilience, it has also introduced specific security-related challenges. managing security across them is complex. “
“Since each cloud provider is operating under separate models and technologies, distributing workloads across differentinfrastructures can increase complexity and heighten an organization’s security risks. Therefore, as more businesses leverage on the use of hybrid-cloud environments, the more the need for strong cloud security policies to effectively secure and protect data across blend of computing environments.”
“For businesses to protect and safeguard their data assets, they must understand the basis of how the public cloud shared responsibility model operates and take responsibility for the security of their cloud data. Moreover, meeting the security concerns of a hybrid-cloud environment requires a more complete approach involving all-inclusive suite of risk prevention, detection, and mitigation tools that integrates with the hybrid-cloud services and that can be managed holistically within the enterprise. Businesses are also required to regularly re-evaluate their security practices and choose the right combination of security procedures like encryption, access control, and intrusion detection systems.”
“Meeting regulations such as Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has become a critical aspect of cloud computing. These regulations present certain requirements that enterprises using hybrid cloud services must adhere to. These regulations include data residency requirements thatorganizations that are combining different computing environments for flexibility and efficiency must comply with. For instance, GDPR is a European Union unified data protection law that regulates handling of personal data within the European Union (EU), and it is a crucial part of the EU’s privacy and human rights law.”
“To ensure regulatory compliance, companies that combine on-premises and cloud-based resources are advised to keep theirregulated data in on-premise data centers or on an approved cloud storage location to meet data residency and autonomy requirements and use other public clouds for storing andprocessing of non-regulated data where necessary,” he stated.
xxx