Cloud spotting: which type is right for your business?

October 25, 2011 Off By David

Grazed from ITBusiness.  Author: Nestor E. Arellano.

Numerous surveys indicate that the majority of small- and medium-sized businesses are intrigued by the benefits touted by hosted computing services, but a large number of these companies remain hesitant to migrate to cloud

“Businesses are attracted by the reported cost savings, flexibility and ease of management, but they remain uncertain whether they should adopt cloud computing, according to Brad McMillan, president of Toronto-based cloud computing and managed hosting firm Apps on Tap. McMillan discussed cloud computing basics during the Small Business Forum 2011 in Toronto.

In a nutshell, cloud computing involves the provisioning of shared resources, software, and information as a service over the Internet. Users manage to avoid upfront infrastructure ownership costs by paying low subscription fees to cloud computing providers.

Negative press such as cloud outages suffered by firms such as Amazon.com, and that by Google, tarnishes the cloud’s reputation, but a large part of SMB hesitation also stems from lack of knowledge about what the cloud can and can’t deliver, according to McMillan, whose company has been providing hosted and networking solutions to small businesses for nearly 25 years.

“Basically, cloud computing renders things such as computing resources, software, storage, security and IT managing capability as a commodity which users can access on an as-needed bases just as they would water from the tap,” said McMillan. “The payment model is typically similar paying for water – it’s based on consumption.”

Although the model sounds relatively simple, McMillan said there are numerous issues that businesses need to understand and pitfalls they need to be aware off before diving into the cloud.

3 types of clouds

McMillan said organizations should start by familiarizing themselves with the three main types of cloud computing:

Public cloud – Public clouds are systems owned and operated service providers. Users subscribe to the cloud-based service. Examples of widely known providers include Salesforces.com’s CRM service, Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), and Cisco’s WebEx.

Recently Microsoft has also offered its own brand of low-cost cloud services such as the cloud storage service Live SkyDrive and Microsoft Office Web Apps.

 In the public cloud model, services are hosted, managed and maintained in the cloud provider’s network. Each customer gets their own contained instance in the service. This type of cloud is suited for small companies that have limited in-house IT staff and small IT budgets but need up-to-date technology in order to remain competitive.

This type of cloud might not be ideal though for companies that need to have a high degree of privacy and security over their data and network.

Pivate cloud – This cloud model is built an operated for a single company. Private clouds are likely to be deployed by larger organizations that have the IT expertise and budget to manage the network internally. Private clouds are more expensive to set-up than public clouds but they provide users with greater control over the resources and data. The services available to private cloud users are limited to what the in-house staff can develop.

Hybrid cloud – A hybrid cloud system combines features of public and private clouds. In large companies, a hybrid cloud could involve a private cloud network that operates with a public cloud. For smaller businesses, a hybrid cloud could be a hosted private cloud that provides access to dedicated resources offered by a public cloud provider.

One provider of hybrid clouds is VMware Inc. The company’s vCloud cloud computing infrastructure allow VMware virtualization customers to expand the functionality of their data centres with compatible cloud computing tools.

McMillan said SMBs might use hybrid clouds for services such as cloud-based CRM but keep more sensitive business applications such as accounting on their own network. “For many businesses, hybrid clouds offer the combination of greater control and security plus access to more services.”

Security concerns

Many small businesses want more clarity about the quality of security and privacy offered by cloud providers, according to Audrey Yates, a Web marketing consultant and owner of Facetime Presentations an Internet marketing firm in Toronto.

“I think what a lot of businesses are worried about and asking is: who guarantees the safety and privacy of my data in the cloud?” Yates said.

“Right now there is no specific industry body watching over cloud providers, all we have to go by are their claims,” she said. “Businesses want a shopping list that ranks providers accordingly.”

Jeff Beckman, a solution manager at Cisco who focuses on VoIP offerings for the small business market, said the multi-tenant arrangement in public cloud could be a concern for businesses that require a high degree of security and privacy. “For instance, a healthcare organization that must adhere to HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) regulations may be uncomfortable with a public cloud due to worries about patient data leaks,” he said in his blog.

“The type of cloud deployment model you chose depend on the level of security your company requires, the kind of applications you want to access in the cloud and your organization’s in-house expertise,” Beckman said.