EDITOR’S QUESTION
to unlock the limitless computing
power inherent in cloud-native
applications and cloud-native
development in your data
centres. Or perhaps you just
crave the cybersafety of
the public cloud for the
protection of your
data and the options
for business
continuity.
Supporting
on-prem and
cloud-native apps
When planning better
support for enterprise
applications in the public
cloud, make sure that the data
services you select not only meet
the feature requirements of your
operations, but that the performance
of those services can scale appropriately
to the needs of your apps.
ASSAAD EL
SAADI, REGIONAL
DIRECTOR, MIDDLE
EAST, PURE
STORAGE
he relatively short
history of hybrid cloud
has furnished us with
several cautionary tales.
If these uncomfortable
anecdotes were to be
compiled into a single volume, its title
would read: ‘plan ahead’. Jumping the gun
in IT projects has never yielded a happy
ending and yet we still do it. But those
who ask the right questions as they design
their hybrid IT infrastructures, are more
likely to recount a happily-ever-after story
than those that jump in with both feet.
T
What are your targets?
Identify your goals, zero in on your biggest
pain points and plan your attack. Maybe
you want to find better ways to run
traditional applications in a public-cloud
setting. You might want to explore ways
32
Issue 11
If your big win is to prepare your data
centres for the support of cloud-native
apps, then you will need to add container
support and object storage capabilities.
This code portability allows cloud-native
applications to run on your premises. In
addition, associated automation tools
and self-service facilities can lead to an
appreciable surge in your organisation’s
IF YOUR BIG WIN
IS TO PREPARE
YOUR DATA
CENTRES FOR
THE SUPPORT OF
CLOUD-NATIVE
APPS, THEN YOU
WILL NEED TO
ADD CONTAINER
SUPPORT AND
OBJECT STORAGE
CAPABILITIES.
IDENTIFY YOUR
GOALS, ZERO IN
ON YOUR BIGGEST
PAIN POINTS
AND PLAN YOUR
ATTACK.
agility and allow you to deliver on cloud-
native application development.
The bottom line is that modern IT
environments should facilitate data
strategies based on flexible consumption
models, across on-premises, hosted
and public cloud – aligning application
workloads with the most effective
infrastructure. Most importantly,
the modern IT environment should
work harmoniously with a common
management interface, 100% non-
disruptive architecture and proactive or
predictive support services.
Securing the digital estate
Building your ideal hybrid IT infrastructure
will require a long, hard look at your
current security policies and the
formulation of new ones that allow a
secure environment without hampering
your operational ambitions. Do not
be afraid to re-evaluate your entire
data-protection and disaster-recovery
processes, to ensure all your digital bases
are covered. Your recovery objectives may
have changed, before or during the design
of hybrid cloud. As a result, you may find
that the recovery options available to
you are no longer fast enough for your
new ambitions, necessitating the switch
to flash storage. And if you find yourself
needing to repurpose your backup data
under your new paradigm, then consider
using object storage for the long term,
to ensure greater accessibility than you
would receive with tape solutions.
Modern IT infrastructure roadmaps,
diligently navigated, can take you where
you want to be, with your data working
for you, delivering the actionable insights
that will keep you relevant in the global
digital economy. ◊
www.intelligentdatacentres.com