Why a Private Cloud Solution is Right For You

Over the years, large enterprises have deployed private cloud infrastructures while SMBs continue to rely on public cloud providers. The latter provides many distinct benefits to your SMB such as cost reduction and proactive data center management, but let’s take a closer look at why you should also consider the private cloud.

The private cloud essentially provides nearly the same benefits as the public cloud, but offers a greater level of security, making it ideal for businesses that handle financial documents, health records, and other sensitive information.

The private cloud provides an infrastructure that’s exclusive to a client. It offers organizations more control over their data and how it’s secured, making the private cloud favorable for adhering to data security policies like HIPAA, PCI DSS, and GDPR.

However, such levels of control can be costly. Private clouds can incur pricier fees than public clouds, not to mention that maintenance and upgrades can also be expensive if you’re not partnered with an affordable cloud provider. That said, a private cloud can prove to be more cost-effective than using a public cloud, and here are several reasons why:

Customizable tools and processes

While cloud solutions are mostly scalable, a private cloud offers more flexibility. You can relocate your resources, launch new side servers, and implement new protocols on the fly. You don’t have to worry about finding physical servers. Instead, you just build them yourself, or with the help of a managed IT services provider.

For example, if your organization’s workflows are built a certain way to handle customer issues efficiently, a private cloud will allow for the processes to fit the current workflow. Additionally, many private clouds run Linux as their operating system, which offers a veritable amount of Linux-based tools to automate processes and eliminate labor-intensive tasks.

Regulatory and compliance requirements

If your business is using a public cloud, chances are, the data isn’t stored locally. Unless your business is located in countries like the United States or Germany, your data is likely stored in another country or continent with its own set of cloud data regulations that may not apply to your operations. For organizations in regulated sectors, such as healthcare or financial services, using a public cloud could put you at risk of violating industry regulations and result in hefty fines and penalties.

Meanwhile, any data you store in the private cloud is controlled directly by you. Assuming you have proper data storage and access protocols in place, this makes it easier to manage and adhere to regulatory and internal compliance mandates.

Enhanced security

When it comes to proprietary data, financial statements, or customer information, a private cloud can ensure that your critical information won’t fall into the wrong hands. Because private clouds are single-tenant solutions, organizations have direct control over the security of the hardware, network, data center, and other elements. Only authorized parties can access their pool of resources via dedicated leased lines or on-site internal hosting.

Cost-effective scaling

With a private cloud, your servers can be combined and virtualized, saving you money and time. By contrast, a public cloud becomes more expensive as you request for more accounts and scale up your resources.

Plus with long-term use, the large upfront cost of setting up your private cloud eventually evens out. While costs may vary for businesses, private clouds usually pay off in about a year as organizations better utilize their server resources and provider costs decrease. Ultimately, this leads to greater returns compared to public clouds.

Option to migrate to a hybrid cloud

With a private cloud, you can take advantage of the accessibility and flexibility of the public cloud by integrating both a private and a public cloud into one ecosystem called a hybrid cloud. This typically involves a hosting architecture that keeps the internet-facing components of your organization separate from any that are utilizing the public cloud.

Charles IT’s private cloud can help your business thrive and save money by providing virtualized computing resources over the internet. We host hardware, software servers, and other infrastructure components as well as manage tasks such as system maintenance, backups, and planning. Call us today or download our free eBook to learn more.