Industry voice: Overcoming the three Cs with the private cloud

Organisations are now overwhelmed with options for where to store their data. However, an all or nothing approach to the cloud is rarely the answer. Different workloads are better suited to certain environments, and advanced security needs and regulatory requirements may dictate how and where some workloads can be stored.

The public cloud undoubtably has its benefits, such as scalability, a lack of upfront infrastructure costs, and the ability to outsource management and security to a cloud provider. However, some businesses are now weighing up whether to migrate certain workloads back to the private cloud. A private cloud is a computing environment used by just one organisation, hosted either on their own infrastructure or managed by a third-party cloud service provider. This allows for a greater level of control and personalisation over how data is handled. According to the Barclays CIO Survey 2024, 83 per cent of enterprises plan to move workloads back to the private cloud.

Why are organisations opting for the private cloud? The answer may lie in shortcomings in their existing public cloud deployments that can be broken down into three Cs: complexity, cost and compliance.

Addressing Complexity

Organisations may have to manage multiple platforms and configurations that lack interoperability. As a result, siloes can emerge between compute, storage and networking environments and between the different platforms themselves, making it difficult to have a complete picture of the data housed within an organisation, meaning valuable insights and innovation are missed.

In short, they need to be able to run applications across cloud boundaries with consistent infrastructure and operations.

Channel partners should offer Software Defined Data Centers: simplified platforms that provide a virtualised and programmatic-consistent infrastructure, operations, and automation tools across their environments. Furthermore, it is now possible to offer a range of microservices within the private cloud so that organisations can deliver services faster and at scale without introducing complexity.

Cutting Costs

Unnecessary complexity can also lead to high costs. ‘Server sprawl’, in which multiple servers are not being used to their full capacity, can also lead to high costs, and is something that should be mitigated using good life cycle management techniques and tools.

One factor that may deter organisations from making the move to the private cloud is the higher initial investment and costs associated with ongoing maintenance. Furthermore, organisations may face budget cuts, be under pressure to deliver on ROI, or may be assessing whether they need to increase capacity for workloads such as AI and ML.

However, when used correctly, private cloud can be more cost-effective than public cloud, which can have hidden costs, making the total cost of ownership higher than expected. In a private cloud environment, businesses are able to lower the total cost of ownership of storage and implement memory tiering that reduces memory and licensing spend.

Partners must therefore be on hand to ensure customers are making the most of the customisable nature of private cloud and they are not paying for services they don’t require.

Keeping Ahead on Compliance

The third issue organisations are facing is around where data is stored. Certain industries are subject to regulations around where their data is stored, who has access to it, and the layers of security in place to protect it. For example, healthcare organisations in the US subject to regulations like HIPAA must use private clouds for sensitive patient data.

Future regulatory changes in this area look likely, particularly in the context of AI advancements, with the EU AI Act coming into force last year.

With the private cloud, organisations have control over their cloud infrastructure, making it easier to comply with regulatory requirements.

Businesses therefore need a cloud platform that offers cyber resilience, recovery and compliance so that they can be confident that they are up to speed with current rules and future proofed as regulations change.

How partners can help

Migrating workloads back to the private cloud can be a significant undertaking for organisations, and channel partners must be on hand to offer support and resources at every stage of the process.

This means offering industry-leading private cloud capabilities tailored to customers’ specific needs along with solutions that provides a consistent, virtualised approach to infrastructure across cloud environments.

Overall, there is a great opportunity for partners to support their customers with AI-ready enterprise platforms, advanced services and professional services, addressing concerns around complexity, cost, and compliance.

About the sponsor

TD SYNNEX (NYSE: SNX) is a leading global distributor and solutions aggregator for the IT ecosystem. We’re an innovative partner helping more than 150,000 customers in 100+ countries to maximize the value of technology investments, demonstrate business outcomes and unlock growth opportunities. Headquartered in Clearwater, Florida, and Fremont, California, TD SYNNEX’s 23,000 co-workers are dedicated to uniting compelling IT products, services and solutions from 2,500+ best-in-class technology vendors. Our edge-to-cloud portfolio is anchored in some of the highest-growth technology segments including cloud, cybersecurity, big data/analytics, AI, IoT, mobility and everything as a service. TD SYNNEX is committed to serving customers and communities, and we believe we can have a positive impact on our people and our planet, intentionally acting as a respected corporate citizen. We aspire to be a diverse and inclusive employer of choice for talent across the IT ecosystem. For more information, visit www.TDSYNNEX.com follow our newsroom or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.