Ready to migrate your SME’s business processes to the cloud? The first decision to make concerns the type of cloud: private, public or hybrid. In this blog post, we examine the differences between each type of cloud and the advantages it offers.
Nowadays, more and more SMEs opt for the convenience of the cloud. It’s a smart choice: a cloud environment offers plenty of benefits. However, finding a custom cloud solution is not easy. First off, it’s crucial to choose the right type of cloud for your business.
The public cloud
This type of cloud allows multiple businesses to share the resources of the same hardware, each with its own walled-off platform. The online platform that you use is hosted and managed by your cloud provider.
Pros
- Low threshold: easy to join and leave.
- Low cost: you only pay for the services, storage space and applications you use.
Cons
If you use a public cloud, you have limited control over the location where your data is stored. You can opt to have your data stored within the EU, for example, but not in which country.
The private cloud
A private cloud is an exclusive cloud environment. Your cloud provider will make a dedicated server at one of its data centers or a screened-off section of multiple servers available to you.
Pros
- You are in full control of your cloud.
- You can integrate external applications and develop your own.
Cons
Scaling your environment is more expensive and complex if you have opted for a private cloud. This is because you’re relying on infrastructure that your provider has exclusively reserved and subsequently adapted for your business.
The hybrid cloud
The name says it all: a hybrid cloud combines private and public cloud services. In practice, this means that everyday applications (e.g. an email package) run in a public cloud, while company-specific applications and sensitive data are stored in a private cloud.
Conclusion
Independent software vendors (ISVs) and large organizations can choose a private, public or hybrid cloud, depending on their requirements. SMEs and growing companies tend to opt for public cloud servers because of their low cost and flexibility.
Interested in the cloud?
Take a look at our various cloud solutions here. Do you have questions or need more information? Get in touch with one of our experts.
