The Ultimate Guide to Hybrid Cloud

For years, agencies have turned to the cloud for increased performance, storage and cost-savings. Recently, hybrid cloud has arisen as the cloud solution of choice for agencies seeking the control and security of a private cloud while still utilizing the elasticity and scalability of a public cloud. Alan Dare, District Manager of Cloud Solutions at NetApp, and Melvin Greer, Senior Fellow and Chief Strategist at Lockheed Martin, have both worked extensively on developing and implementing strategies for successful migration to the cloud. According to both, hybrid cloud is emerging as the ideal solution for most agencies.

(Navigate the move to hybrid cloud with this checklist)

“Right now many organizations are looking at it as ‘I can have on-premises cloud or I pretty much have to use a commercial cloud,’” Dare said. “But the hybrid approach is unequivocally the best of both worlds. They’re thinking of it as a very hard decision: ‘Do I keep everything local and private, or do I outsource everything?’ But, in most cases, hybrid is actually the best solution.”

Although migration may seem daunting, Dare and Greer recommend some simple steps that can make the migration to hybrid easier:

1. Assess Your Existing Systems

Regardless of where you’re starting from, it’s important to know what types of applications you’re using, what their requirements are and what you’ll need going forward, said Dare.

“You need to first consider your security and performance requirements so that you choose a cloud architecture and migration strategy that work best for you given your organization’s needs,” he said. Since hybrid cloud represents a difference in cost structuring, it is equally critical to examine your existing business model and determine what you need in the future.

Knowing what exactly you hope to achieve from the cloud is critical, and Greer recommends that agencies spend significant time and energy to think through these questions.

“The three things I think are most important when optimizing hybrid cloud would be the incorporation of automation, the integration of next-generation security and the enhanced use of software-defined technologies,” Greer said. Considering early on how these sorts of new solutions can improve your existing systems will help you get the most out of your hybrid cloud, he said.

2. Determine a Method of Migration

“One thing organizations need is a methodology for physically moving the data from the private cloud to the commercial cloud,” said Dare. To find the right methodology, he said, ask yourself questions like: How long will migration take? Will there be a disruption of service when the migration occurs? The goal is to accurately judge where you are now, where you want to be and how to bridge the gap.

“You need to have a really serious and organized governance and management strategy,” Greer said. This is because the development of a comprehensive plan helps keep track of all the moving parts and ensures that no piece falls through the cracks.

(For more methods, download the hybrid cloud migration checklist)

To ease the transition, it’s often best for organizations to consider migrating incrementally to the cloud, starting with pieces that are not mission-critical and then moving on to other applications.

“The best way to approach new technology that you’ve not utilized before is to take it in small steps,” Dare said. “Gaining experience using a hybrid model with some sections that are less disruptive to the larger organization—like back-up or test and development—gives your organization’s I.T. staff a firm foundation to be able to understand the cloud and how to best utilize it.”

3. Determine Which Cloud Service Provider You Want To Go With

When migrating, you have to determine which cloud service provider makes most sense for you. Although most providers offer similar services, their pricing schemes differ greatly. To ensure you get the best deal, analyze your usage and cross-reference it with each provider’s charges so that no bill catches you off-guard.

“It’s kind of like a cellphone plan,” Dare said. “You use your cellphone and then magically one month you get these incredibly large bills and go, ‘What happened?’ That’s something that can happen in cloud if you haven’t familiarized yourself with the economic models behind it.”

It’s also important to discuss the relationship between service level agreements and performance in order to make sure nothing catches you off guard, said Greer.

“When thinking about hybrid cloud, you really want to be in a position to understand how your performance and service level agreements are structured,” Greer said. “When there is an outage or problem, you want to be able to isolate it quickly without any finger-pointing across cloud service providers.”

4. Port Your Data to the Hybrid Cloud

Finally, port your data to the cloud. Decide what kind of replication makes most sense given your data needs, and consult with your hybrid cloud provider to see if they offer assistance with this step—especially if your agency is already using a public or private cloud.

“We’re now in a position to move workloads of data and applications from one cloud to another fairly seamlessly,” Greer said.

Companies like NetApp offer additional services to streamline this step while maintaining transparency.

“NetApp tries to be a data steward,” Dare said. “As that steward, we suggest agencies understand where their data is at any given time, how they can get to that data and how they can back that data up.”

From start to finish, maintaining awareness about your data is the key to successful hybrid migration. To learn more, download the hybrid cloud migration checklist.

About NetApp

Leading organizations worldwide count on NetApp for software, systems and services to manage and store their data. Customers value the company's teamwork, expertise and passion for helping them succeed now and into the future. To learn more, visit www.netapp.com.

This content is made possible by NetApp and Lockheed Martin; it is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Nextgov's editorial staff.