Understanding Your Agency’s Hybrid Journey

Spurred by the government’s Cloud First policy, agencies are increasingly making the move to the cloud. In 2014, the federal government spent $2.45 billion on cloud services, according to a recent Deltek report. By 2019, this number is expected to grow to $6.5 billion.

Given the increased cost savings, flexibility, elasticity and computing power accessible in a cloud environment, it’s hardly surprising that federal adoption is rising. Agencies are eager, and often mandated, to move to the cloud, but frequently they face challenges in doing so. Agencies are concerned about security, workload migration and integration, compliance and information governance in a cloud environment. Ultimately, agencies fear that if they place all of their information in the cloud, they won’t be able to maintain enough control over their data to ensure sensitive information is kept safe.

To address these concerns, it’s important for agencies to choose a cloud provider that meets the security and performance requirements of government. Typically, this means going with a cloud provider that offers a FedRAMP compliant, flexible hybrid environment that can be customized or paired with managed services.

With hybrid cloud, agencies have an environment consisting of multiple cloud infrastructures, linked together by proprietary technologies that enable probability. This allows agencies to access the scalability and computing power of a public cloud environment, while still retaining sole ownership of sensitive information. 

Instead of forcing agencies to choose between a private or public environment, a hybrid environment allows data to be stored privately, ported out to the cloud for analytics purposes, and then sent back to the private environment for storage once the application is complete. Agencies can keep sensitive data and applications in a colocation environment, but can still build out new applications in a cloud environment and transfer data between the two as necessary.

By increasing agencies’ computing capacity while ensuring data security, agencies can analyze enormous amounts of data to produce unprecedented insights.

“What hybrid IT does for you is it allows you to put the right workload in the right place,” says David Weisbrot, cloud business manager at QTS. “It allows you to seamlessly connect various environments together under one roof to make it look like it’s one seamless data center.”

Additionally, a hybrid environment allows agencies to access the cost-savings and operational efficiencies of the cloud by retiring expensive, inefficient infrastructure. Experts no longer have to spend their time keeping outdated systems functional, and can instead work towards cutting-edge innovations with the security that the underlying systems will function as planned.

But with so many moving parts, it’s important for agencies to know their clouds are backed by professionals trained in the specifics of cloud and dedicated to ensuring smooth operations. Especially as agencies begin their hybrid journeys, they often worry that they don’t have the in-house expertise to migrate smoothly to the cloud. That’s where an experienced cloud provider can come in, providing additional technical support to agencies in need. Agencies can use managed services from the beginning, during project scoping and migration, or can bring them in later for help with day-to-day operations.

By pairing a hybrid environment with managed services, agencies can easily customize their cloud environments. They can pick or choose to operate as many or as few applications in the cloud as they need, and have the ability to bring in technical support when necessary. These capabilities are especially important for government, where reducing risks and gaining efficiencies are critical to successful long-term operations.

“Every agency is different,” says Weisbrot. “They all have very unique needs. At QTS, we’re able to really start from a needs perspective, and then work back to what operational and technical solution would best meet those needs.”

Agencies should expect—not simply hope for—a secure and compliant, high-performing hybrid environment that enables rapid response. Moreover, they should be comfortable in their ability to tap as needed into the resources of trained, dedicated professionals that are knowledgeable in the unique requirements of government. With these pieces in place, agencies can embark with confidence on their hybrid journey. 

About QTS + Carpathia

QTS + Carpathia is a leading national provider of data center solutions and fully managed services. The company offers a complete, unique portfolio of core data center products, including custom data center (C1), colocation (C2) and cloud and managed services (C3), providing the flexibility, scale and security needed to support the rapidly evolving infrastructure demands of web and IT applications. With 25 locations in three continents, QTS + Carpathia owns, operates and manages approximately 5 million square feet of secure, state-of-the-art data center infrastructure and supports more than 1000 customers.