Is a Private Cloud right for My Business? 

As a Managed Services Provider, we get asked this practically daily from our clients and prospects. So, today’s article is going to be about Private Cloud and whether it is right for your business. We hope this will help shape your thoughts and decision process to make the right choice that suits your business.

Cloud computing has changed the face of the typical hosting business over the past 15 years. The evolvement of hardware, CPU, storage has enabled many advancements in how hosting services are defined. A decade ago, you would have had to cost and maintain your hardware and space in a data centre and skills and people to operate the platform. While elements of this are still present, the cost and agility of how it is now available has significantly changed.

In 2021, businesses are spoilt for choice when it comes to cloud delivery models. You can operate your infrastructure-as-a-service, platform-as-a-service or software-as-a-service from a host of providers, be it public or private cloud. The cost to consume these services ranges depending on the cloud model you decide to use.

If you want to know more about cloud services and cloud delivery models, then please check this article

What is A Private Cloud?

A private cloud is a technology platform that is dedicated with its own power, compute, storage, and network, and that is exclusively for a single company. In today’s progressive cloud market, a private cloud can be operated in AWS or Microsoft. You can also have a private cloud operated and maintained by a data centre services provider such as Rack Space or CenturyLink.

What are the benefits of a private cloud?

Many myths and erroneous cost models are associated with public and private clouds, and it is up to the business to understand their requirements and then benchmark them against offerings. Here are some of the advantages of a private cloud;

Cost: Private cloud can slash your TCO compared to the public cloud. This is mainly due to all the services used when you operate out of a public cloud, which is often missed or not costed. Elements such as ingress and egress network traffic, backup and replication, security, monitoring and alerting are just some examples that can significantly increase the cost to operate in the public cloud. You can expect to manage your services in a private cloud by up to 65% lower price over three years.

Security: The private cloud means that you can choose to have dedicated security appliances to operate and maintain your security. No longer are you sharing virtual contexts on firewalls with other companies/traffic. Running your network and security on dedicated security appliances means there is less risk of compromise when compared with shared infrastructure.

Customisation: Your needs will determine what functionality you want within your infrastructure. Having your dedicated platform means that you can tailor the solution to your requirements without being concerned with other companies’ impact.

Scalable and Performant: Being the master of your kingdom means you can do as you please based on what is needed. You can scale up and down your private cloud with relative ease and with controlled costs.

Privacy and Compliance: The likes of GDPR have seen the growth of private cloud amongst businesses. The legal and financial sector has preferred to operate its own private cloud as it means there is less risk of cross-contamination when it comes to compromise and vulnerabilities.

Is A Private Cloud Right for My Business?

Your requirements will determine if a private cloud is optimal for your business. The need for better security, control, agility, and scalability would mean that its indeed a cloud model that needs strong consideration.

Type of Private Cloud
There are options for a private cloud in terms of how it is hosted and managed. Your requirements will determine which one is suitable so let’s take a look at the three types.

1. Virtual: A virtual private cloud can be hosted off a segregated public cloud that would allow your workloads to be soft-isolated. A good example of this would-be VMware on AWS.

2. Hosted: A hosted private cloud is essentially managed and operated by a managed service provider who maintains the platform for you. This instance of a private cloud could be dedicated or shared.

3. Managed: A managed private cloud can be dedicated or shared, and the entire platform is owned and operated by a cloud service provider. You would essentially be given access to the virtual servers, and the platform would be under strict change control.

Teck Genius build, operate and support private clouds for businesses of all sizes and tailor a solution based on your requirements. For more information or a no-obligation chat, please call our friendly team of experts on 0345 314 2001 about how we can make all this happen for you. Our team is ready and waiting to help in any way they can.