Choosing the right Cloud model for your business

Introduction

In the rapidly changing landscape of business communications, companies are confronted with a fundamental choice: whether to migrate from on-premise servers and embrace Cloud-based solutions. A recent survey commissioned by Google found that an impressive 93% of respondents expressed that they are now ‘mostly cloud’ . Notably, on-premise reliance dropped by 50% in 2022, and in recent months many more businesses are now implementing plans to make the shift towards cloud solutions.

Google’s study reveals a strategic shift among CIOs towards prioritising cloud-based services when upgrading or purchasing new technology solutions. IT leaders attribute their recent sustained and increased revenue growth to capabilities afforded by cloud solutions, and with 59% of CIOs expressing intent to increase adoption of the cloud, this solidifies the trajectory of the cloud trend and a clear departure from on-premise solutions.

Now we have established the cloud trend, all that's left is to decide whether you go with private cloud or public cloud. So let's dive in...

Private cloud

In many cases private cloud deployments are an owned server resource which is housed in physical data centres and colocation spaces. The data centre provides the power, cooling, connectivity, and so on, but the company delivering the technology or service provides the physical servers and is responsible for upkeep. When businesses turned to the cloud this was the obvious choice - big managed spaces with lots of connectivity and power backup / failover they could rent space in for their owned servers. In other words, your things, in your car, in a rented garage. But you had to service the car, add extra cars in case yours wouldn’t start, and occasionally replace all the cars when new ones were needed.

Public cloud

Public cloud deployment is typically delivered by huge global tech firms like Amazon’s AWS service, Microsoft’s Azure, and our personal favourite Google Cloud Services. These giant organisations deliver infrastructure at a global scale, with the best capabilities in terms of availability and threat defence against bad actors. 

In our car analogy it’s your things, but the car and the garage are rented… and they manage themselves, update themselves, add new cars instantly and automatically when needed (and remove them when you don’t need them). And the garages are far bigger, far more secure, and they’re everywhere!

Public cloud vs Private cloud

While private cloud has historically been seen as more controllable within the organisation, the evolution to public cloud such as Google’s challenges this notion. Public cloud offers far greater flexibility, scalability, and security delivered by the largest technology pioneers of our time.

By using public cloud you can bring servers online and offline instantly in response to demand, which controls costs, manages resources effectively and offers the highest levels of environmental efficiency. 

In our business we have a simple saying... never run your own metal! With the power of Google Cloud Services there’s no value in installing costly and quickly outdated physical servers (cars) in a data centre.

CallSwitch One is built and deployed in Google Cloud Services, and here’s why:

Dynamic Resource Management: Google Cloud brings CallSwitch One servers online and offline in response to demand, ensuring maximised performance. This improves overall network and environmental efficiency. 

Performance Optimisation: The platform offers the world’s best load balancing, ensuring even traffic distribution and rapid scalability without compromise on performance. It’s the same load balancing that powers Google Search.

Global Distribution and Replication: Distribution and replication across Google Cloud Services enhances software and service availability to the highest standards attainable.

Horizontal Scalability: The public cloud infrastructure allows for a horizontal scalability model, eliminating single points of failure, and offering a robust communications platform without compromising on reliability.

Industry Leading Resilience: Google Cloud stands out for its resilience, minimising latency and outperforming even geographically local alternatives. This also translates to reduced downtime and superior service availability.

Trusted by Global Leaders: Google Cloud is the choice of industry leaders, including HSBC, Spotify, Sky and Snap Inc. to name a few. This means that you’re in excellent company.

Best-in-Class Threat Defence: Google Cloud Services is renowned for possessing the world’s best threat defence capabilities, ensuring the highest levels of security and data protection.

Final thoughts

Navigating the competitive and dynamic environment of cloud communications requires careful consideration. While private cloud has historically been perceived as the ‘safer’ owned option, the evolving landscape of UCaaS and CPaaS as a whole underscores that businesses need solutions which are versatile, scalable and adaptable. Embracing the public cloud offers all of these things and more, transcending the limitations associated with traditional infrastructure.

Ready to learn more about what our solutions can do for your business? Click here to learn more.