An increasing number of organizations have taken to cloud computing in the last few years. Many of them have also begun discovering the many benefits of opting for a hybrid cloud — a customized cloud environment made up by combining the right mix of public and private clouds that best suits the organization.

While the right choice of mix in a hybrid cloud can ensure the best of security, accessibility, scalability, and cost-effectiveness, the journey to this perfect hybrid cloud environment is not free from challenges. If you have decided to make the move to a hybrid cloud, here are a few challenges you are likely to face before and after your cloud migration:

Finding the Right Cloud Providers

First and foremost, it is a challenge to arrive at the right mix of public and private clouds that will ensure optimum benefits. A thorough infrastructure evaluation and analysis of performance data, along with monitoring of RoI is essential to make the most of the hybrid cloud deployment.

When it comes to a hybrid cloud infrastructure, it is also important to select cloud providers who can:

• Design and implement virtual private cloud networks (VPC) with a defined range of IP addresses
• Set up options for virtual private network (VPN) connection that is compatible with available hardware or software
• Establish a direct connection between your private data center and VPC
• Ensure connectivity between the on-premise data center and cloud infrastructure

Finally, it is also important to ensure that cloud providers have all the required certifications to comply with policies and regulations. You may require the support of a cloud consultant to finalize on the right cloud providers for your hybrid cloud.

Implementing an Interruption-free Migration

During both stages of the cloud migration process – server migration and data migration, you are bound to face some challenges. Remember to consider time-to-market, application modernization needs, and availability of resources when planning your implementation strategy. 

Depending on the volume of data to be migrated and the business downtime that such a migration can cause, you may face challenges during the data migration process as well. With the support of a cloud migration expert, however, you can overcome these challenges with minimal disruption.

Managing Multiple Cloud Providers

Because the hybrid cloud is all about the right mix of public and private clouds, it also involves the need to manage these multiple cloud providers and their services. With organizations today opting for as many as five clouds to make up their cloud environment, it can become challenging to manage all of them, their related costs, and more.

You will also need to ensure that there is continued connectivity and communication between the different cloud networks you have chosen. This is why, if you are going in for a hybrid cloud, it is a wise idea to outsource your cloud management to a managed services provider.

Embracing Identity and Access Management

In a hybrid cloud environment, with multiple applications of varying security and administrative features, it can become overwhelming for users and administrators alike to keep up with identity and access.

A way to counter this challenge is by adopting an identity and access management (IAM) solution that will provide a single sign-on and other features that will bring all applications under one common platform.

Managing Costs

While one of the primary reasons for choosing a hybrid cloud is for optimizing costs, improper management of billings from different cloud service providers can have the reverse effect. If not effectively controlled and monitored, cloud space wastage can happen and costs can spiral out of control.

Despite the challenges, migrating to a hybrid cloud environment is often a good idea. All the challenges before and during the cloud migration can be overcome with the help of a cloud consultant and the post-migration management can be easily outsourced to a trusted managed service provider.

At CloudNow, we don many hats — of cloud consultants, cloud migration experts, IAM solution providers, managed service providers and more. We have the expertise to help you choose the right cloud platforms and services, implement a seamless cloud migration and assure you of smooth, worry-free management of your hybrid cloud. Get in touch with us to know more.