5 Benefits of Using a Private Cloud

Could your company benefit from the dedicated computing environment that a private cloud provides?

Companies of all sizes are moving IT services to the cloud. With so many benefits that the cloud provides — from streamlined services, ease of use and around-the-clock availability — it’s not a surprise that it’s rising in popularity as a computing environment.

When people think of the cloud, they often conjure up images of shared services on major platforms provided by tech giants like Google, IBM, Microsoft and Amazon. These public clouds, as they’re known, allow organizations to enjoy the benefits of cloud technology while offsetting costs by sharing that environment with other users.

But, some companies need a more dedicated solution if they have unique needs such as greater control, higher security and specific compliance measures — among other reasons. The private cloud is a solution for that.

Private clouds are computing environments that many of these same cloud service providers offer, only they are dedicated to one individual user or company – referred to as the tenant. These dedicated clouds give tenants their own infrastructure that’s managed and deployed on the cloud.

In many ways, a private cloud works like an in-house server environment, only delivered, managed, maintained and deployed on the cloud by a service provider.

There are numerous benefits to using a private cloud. Below we explore five of the biggest.

1. Cost Effectiveness

Compared to using a completely in-house network system, the private cloud is a very cost-effective way to develop, manage, deploy and deliver applications to both your internal teams and external customers and clients.

This cost effectiveness can be realized in multiple ways:

Initial Investment and Long-Term Savings

Using a private cloud requires a significant initial investment. That’s because, unlike the public cloud, you will be purchasing a dedicated cloud environment that only your organization will use.

As such, you’ll need to purchase much of the equipment you need as well as the bandwidth and services you want to be available.

At the same time, private clouds can result in major long-term savings over a public cloud. This is mainly because much of the cost related to a private cloud is spent upfront, with the user realizing savings incrementally each month. Over time, in other words, companies can recoup that upfront investment with the lower ongoing payments they have.

Stable costs

Another cost-related advantage that private clouds have over public clouds is the fact that costs are much more stable and predictable. All resources you need are already allocated upfront, as mentioned, so you won’t need to purchase them on an ongoing basis.

With the public cloud, you might need to quickly scale up if there’s unpredictable usage, resulting in unexpected associated costs. This is a more difficult and challenging undertaking with a public cloud than it is with a private cloud, where you have complete control over every aspect of the service.

2. Enhanced Security

Unlike the public cloud, your organization will be the only one that has access to the private cloud. Since public clouds are designed to deliver a standard product to multiple users, they typically have a more basic level of cybersecurity measures in place.

If your organization desires or requires enhanced security, then a private cloud offers the needed customization.

Data Privacy and Control

A private cloud enables you to have greater control over your data. isolation and exclusivity of private clouds mitigates the risk of data breaches and unauthorized access in a major way.

Hackers often target public clouds because if their breach attempts are successful, they gain access to data and information from multiple entities, potentially exposing thousands of users. Private clouds don’t generally offer bad actors the same potential payoff.

In addition, industries where sensitive data (such as personally identifiable information) requires protection often turn to private clouds because of the data privacy and control it affords them. This includes industries such as the government, health care and finance.

Compliance with Regulations

Private clouds can be tailored specifically to the needs of the businesses using them, unlike public clouds, which are designed to fit a broader audience. Because of this, adhering to regulatory standards and strict compliance requirements becomes possible via a private cloud.

This is an essential aspect of businesses in the healthcare industry, for example, which must adhere to the principles of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Advanced Threat Detection

Private clouds also offer advanced threat detection capabilities versus the standard public cloud. This means, again, that you have more control over the cybersecurity measures in place so that you can proactively be a part of stopping breaches.

The public cloud still provides significant cybersecurity protection. However, its users hold little control over those measures, as well as the threat detection principles and processes that the cloud service provider enacts.

3. Scalability

Because of the architecture of a private cloud, it provides immense scalability benefits over a public cloud. Having control and access to the private cloud on a self-service basis is one of its major benefits, as is the fact that private clouds typically offer greater capacity to meet larger demands for computing and storage.

Vertical and Horizontal Scaling

Both public and private clouds offer scalability over in-house networks. With private clouds, though, this scalability is controlled by the user.

There aren’t any physical limitations, since the environment is completely virtual, plus the scalability can be managed by your teams. This means that you can quickly and easily scale vertically and horizontally as you see fit.

Rapid Deployment

Need to expand quickly? Need to make major changes and updates to a cloud-based application? The private cloud provides all this to you.

While you can take advantage of rapid deployment on the public cloud, you can sometimes be hamstrung by whatever the service provider can give to you — and how quickly.

With the private cloud, you have complete control over everything. Plus, it’s easier to pre-build and pre-load extra storage space, bandwidth and more, meaning you can initiate deployments instantly in real time.

Future-Proofing IT Infrastructure

Some legacy systems aren’t simple to migrate to the public cloud. The private cloud, by contrast, can be configured to specifically meet your needs and/or the needs of only one individual application.

In essence, the private cloud helps you to modernize your legacy systems, rather than making major changes to them just so they work on the public cloud — or having to replace them altogether with a new application.

4. Customization and Flexibility

Ownership is the biggest difference between the private cloud and the public cloud. Since you own the private cloud on which you operate, it provides complete customization to your needs and the flexibility that many organizations desire or require.

Tailored Solutions for Business Needs

With the private cloud, you can design the infrastructure to align with your company’s unique requirements and resource allocation. You can easily customize software and hardware to run your business efficiently and effectively.

Such tailored solutions typically aren’t available on a public cloud.

Integration with Existing Systems

Just because you’re migrating to the cloud doesn’t mean you are ready, willing and/or able to completely do away with your existing IT infrastructure and legacy systems.

With the public cloud, as mentioned above, continuing to use these legacy systems could be very difficult if not altogether impossible. That’s not the case with the private cloud, which enables a smooth integration via greater customization with these legacy systems and whatever other IT infrastructure you want to keep in place.

Custom Management Tools and Interface

Whatever needs you have, a private cloud can serve them. If you require backup and/or data storage, for example, you can easily customize that on a private cloud — something that a public cloud doesn’t offer.

5. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity

All businesses need to have a disaster recovery and business continuity plan, both of which set standard operating procedures for what will happen if an unexpected event occurs that disrupts services.

The goal is to minimize downtime and data loss and to ensure that the business continues to operate normally as quickly as possible following such an event.

The private cloud is an ideal fit as an option for disaster recovery.

Robust Backup Solutions

The fact that private clouds offer robust backup solutions helps to provide a faster recovery time should disaster strike. Organizations can take advantage of the dedicated environment a private cloud offers for failover and replication of data.

Minimizing Downtime

Minimizing downtime should be a major goal of any business. But, there are some organizations that have applications that simply need to be available at all times.

In this scenario, the architecture of a private cloud is an ideal fit. Companies can locate these mission-critical applications in the private cloud, ensuring that downtime is always kept to a minimum, which saves money, protects data and ensures the company upholds its reputation.

Is a Private Cloud for You?

The private cloud is the preferred cloud computing environment for businesses that need more control over their data, are looking for enhanced security measures, and scalability, customization and flexibility.

While a public cloud could provide some of these benefits, the shared nature of its environment simply isn’t the best solution for some companies or industries.

As you’re migrating applications to the private cloud, you may find your IT teams stretched to the max. It’s at times like these that you should consider working with Techmate.

Our trained IT professionals can help supplement your IT teams, allowing you to focus on mission-critical operations. Or, we can provide dedicated teams to handle application development from start to finish.

Want to learn more about how we can benefit your IT services? Contact us today.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a private cloud and how does it work?

The private cloud is a cloud computing environment that’s located on the internet. Unlike the public cloud, though, private clouds are dedicated to one individual user, instead of shared among multiple users.