Is Public Cloud Computing Adoption Strategically the Way to Go for All the Enterprises?

Abstract

As cloud computing is moving from hype to reality, certain best practices and broad trends are emerging when it comes to private cloud vs. public cloud deployment debate. Cost, control and capabilities are key factors in decision making of enterprises on whether to migrate their existing applications on public or private cloud infrastructure. Over the first decade of cloud computing adoption, most of the enterprises began with over-conservatism towards public cloud, based mainly on concerns of steady state workload cost and control. The majority of enterprises have now settled in to middle ground approach with hybrid cloud based on their expectation of cost benefits and sustained control from private infrastructure for some of their applications. For new applications development, public cloud is increasingly favored for allocation of applications. Private cloud platforms e.g. VMware and Openstack have become easier to use and deploy. The private cloud platforms have closed the gap in ease of rapid application development as container platforms and cloud management have advanced in offering orchestration and capabilities competitive with public cloud services. However, public cloud platforms are suited for firms willing to sacrifice long-term application portability for less operational workload and short-term quicker development. The enterprises are keeping many of their applications on private infrastructure for security, compliance or auditing reasons. The enterprises should not oversimplify their cost considerations while identifying the applications that can run on either public or private cloud as this may leave risks of a lot of cost-saving opportunities on table. The key to cost analysis is to determine first, how well one can profile infrastructure capacity needs and second, how efficiently one can operate their private infrastructure.