Public cloud vs. private cloud vs. hybrid cloud: What's the best solution for your business?

What’s the best option for your business? What’s the difference between public cloud vs. private cloud vs. hybrid cloud?

Like most things in life, the answer is relative to your individual needs and circumstances. For example, you have to consider your business goals, budget, and more.

Public clouds can be described as a cloud computing model where cloud resources like servers are owned and operated by a third-party service provider. It’s the most popular cloud computing model and should remain the same for the foreseeable future.

In this scenario, all the hardware, software, and supporting infrastructure will be owned by a third-party provider who owns the data center (click here to find out about Artmotion’s public cloud offering).  

So when you sign up to store your digitals assets on a public cloud, your business will become a cloud “tenant.” This means that you’ll be sharing the same hardware and networking devices with other companies (lowering your expenses). 

Advantages of public cloud services:

• High reliability
• Low costs (with zero investment)
• Near-unlimited scalability (with on-demand resources)
• No maintenance expenses
• Security

Disadvantages of public cloud services:

• Low visibility of enterprise infrastructure

From large corporations to small and medium-sized businesses, public clouds continue to be the go-to solution for most companies. 

When you sign up for a private cloud, you have exclusive access to all the hardware, software, network, and all the infrastructure that supports it. However, the data center can be located on-premise or hosted externally by a third-party provider. 

This approach can make it easier for companies to customize IT resources to meet their specific requirements. But this doesn’t mean that a public cloud provider wouldn’t do the same to meet your organization’s particular needs (if you need a dedicated private cloud, reach out to our team, and we will build it to your specifications).

Advantages of private cloud services:

• Dedicated environments 
• Enhanced flexibility 
• High scalability
• More control over the infrastructure

Disadvantages of private cloud services:

• Expensive (as you have to purchase and maintain your technology infrastructure)
• High scalability can be a challenge if the data center is hosted on-premise
• Limited access for mobile users

Private clouds are popular among financial institutions and government agencies who seek enhanced control over their environment.

You can say the hybrid cloud model offers the best of both worlds. This approach fuses both public and private cloud computing models so companies can leverage the advantages of both.

Hybrid clouds also allow organizations to benefit from “cloud bursting.” So whenever private cloud computing resources are at their limit, you can move to the public cloud to use additional computing resources.

Advantages of hybrid cloud services:

• Control (as you choose what you store on both public and private clouds)
• Flexibility (as you can benefit from additional resources provided by public clouds, on-demand)
• High reliability

Disadvantages of hybrid cloud services:

• Additional infrastructure complexity is introduced as technology evolves
• It can quickly get expensive 
• Strong compatibility and integration is needed

Hybrid cloud solutions are often used by organizations that serve multiple verticals. This is because every vertical won’t share the same regulatory and performance demands. 

Whether you choose a public, private, or hybrid cloud, it’s critical to leverage encryption technologies and follow cloud security best practices.