MARKET REPORT Cloud
“Given the rapid development of digital business transformation, it’s now unlikely that a company would
adopt a single approach as certain solutions suit particular applications better.”
Geraint Talbot-Davies, Cloud Security & Data Centre MD - Intercity Technology
Multi-Cloud vs Public Cloud vs
Private Cloud – Does it matter?
Comms Business Magazine looks at the different ways of running applications from the cloud to see where
the advantages and disadvantages are.
For some time now
organisations have had
wide choices when it comes
to running applications in
the cloud. Large government
departments needing far greater
security have tended to use
private clouds as have larger
enterprises.
However, more and more
large companies not only use
the SaaS applications from
public clouds but also a mix
of the two by running hybrid,
private and public clouds
together to meet the needs of
their business.
Comms Business asks;
What are conditions and
needs for a company to use
hybrid, private or public
clouds?
Intercity Technology’s Cloud,
Security and Data Centre
Managing Director, Geraint
Talbot-Davies, says that before
an organisation can agree which
Cloud option is best for them,
IT professionals need to start by
thinking carefully about their
business’s objectives and the
applications they are using.
“Given the rapid
development of digital business
transformation, it’s now
unlikely that a company would
adopt a single approach as
certain solutions suit particular
applications better. Cloud is an
application led marketplace so
multiple approaches are usual.
For a global operator, the
use of a multi-cloud approach
is a natural choice due to the
volume of applications they
need to access, but they still
retain considerable in-house
core application expertise.
At the other end of the scale,
SMEs have mainly preferred
to adopt a ‘hybrid’ approach
allowing increased freedom to
use applications from public
as well as private cloud. In
fact, around 88 per cent of
the SME UK market now
follow this hybrid approach to
ensure they can develop and
access applications tailored
specically to their customers’
requirements.”
Dave Hawkins, Head of
Channel Sales at KCOM,
says for organisations starting
out fresh - without a legacy
technology infrastructure - it
really shouldn’t be a question
of whether to adopt a cloud
infrastructure: the question
is why wouldn’t you adopt a
cloud-centric approach?
“Organisations in this space
mostly include start-ups and
digital disruptors – they often
reap the greatest benets
because they develop cloud
systems from scratch to support
their business goals and needs
eectively.”
Simon Smith, Chief
Executive Ocer, Extrinsica
Global says that in terms of
workloads, the overwhelming
majority can now be
accommodated in the public or
‘hyperscale’ cloud.
“e exception to this rule
would be extremely dated
mainframe applications’
although there are several
companies that specialise in
doing this, if you’re prepared
to pay the enormous cost. It is
perfectly possible to deliver the
current functionality businesses
use (often client/server based)
from the hyperscale cloud.”
Does this matter? What are
the pro’s and con’s?
Carl Boraman, Director of
Strategic Alliances, at Tollring,
says the choice of private
cloud vs. public cloud is still
very much subjective, with
no ‘right’ answer – it depends
heavily on a service provider’s
priorities, vertical markets
served, dierentiation strategy,
and approach to customer
experience.
“While a public cloud
approach is generally quicker
to get up and running and
will reduce support and
maintenance overheads for the
service provider, a private cloud
delivers greater control over
customer experience when it
comes to value added services
like those oered by Tollring
(specically business analytics
and call recording).
In a private cloud
environment, the service
provider can choose when
they upgrade to new versions,
operate test environments or
© Sashkin-stock.adobe.com
It is perfectly possible to deliver the current functionality businesses use
(often client/server based) from the hyperscale cloud
24 | Comms Business Magazine | April 2020 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
/Sashkin-stock.adobe.com
/www.commsbusiness.co.uk