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Last year saw the rapid acceleration of the remote work trend. Many companies had to adapt to their workforce no longer being in one centralized location: the office. The transition to remote work may have been challenging at first, but by now most companies have settled into having their employees work outside of the office. Companies such as Coinbase, Facebook, Dropbox, and Ford have either extended remote work until the end of 2021 or opted for a hybrid work model.

Despite the number of organizations transitioning to hybrid workplaces, many companies still have their data storage on premises. In order to ensure business continuity in the age of a flexible workplace, it is imperative to adopt a hybrid cloud approach. 

There is a general sweet spot for organizations wishing to operate in a hybrid cloud environment. Some apps or files operate better in a hybrid cloud environment depending on the function of the organization. Partnering with a cloud service provider will afford IT professionals the convenience, flexibility, security, and cost-effectiveness they want while taking many of the responsibilities and burdens of the transition off their shoulders. 

Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) providers are often solicited in these instances to act as a guide through the migration process. They manage tasks like data upkeep and equipment maintenance, which allows businesses to get a better grip on what their employees need to achieve from cloud implementation in order to best adapt to their new virtual work conditions.

There are five key components that companies ought to consider when planning to transfer to a data storage solution. Let’s dig into each of those elements. 

• Location: Many companies today operate on a national or global scale, which means they can easily have thousands of users spread across several regions storing data and accessing apps within a public cloud. With a hybrid approach, companies can ensure that different agents in different areas of the world are able to access the information and apps they need as well as share items with colleagues, vendors, or clients with ease and security.
• Cost: Another benefit of offloading maintenance tasks to an IaaS provider is reduced cost. Storing a company’s data on a service provider’s third-party cloud means fewer overhead expenses and less risk associated with long-term investments or expensive migrations.
• Security: With fewer employees on location, it can become difficult and costly for IT teams to ensure the security of their on-premise data storage solution. Utilizing third-party services removes the issue of security due to the 24/7 monitoring and top-tier cybersecurity products implemented.
• Scalability: Many companies that want to transition to a hybrid cloud solution seek a provider that allows for a quick and efficient scale of its infrastructure. Since most small to midsized businesses (SMBs) are dealing with a dispersed workforce that still needs to access various apps and files throughout the day, the demand on the IT infrastructure is unpredictable at times. In this instance, an IaaS provider would easily be able to increase the CPU power or RAM in the server in order to meet the heavy demands without lag.
• Business Continuity: An IaaS solution means businesses assume less responsibility when it comes to ensuring the upkeep of a data center. An IaaS provider takes on the implication of business continuity elements, such as disaster recovery plans, which allows businesses the ability to focus on more revenue-based activities. In this scenario, companies don’t have to worry about the durability of the company’s files and apps or upkeep of hardware and software. IT professionals’ time and resources are freed up to focus on more complex technical tasks.

There are endless options available on the market for businesses that wish to migrate their data center to the cloud. Therefore, it’s important to evaluate the location, cost, security, scalability, and business continuity capabilities of a hosting solution from the start. Partnering with an IaaS provider simplifies the otherwise daunting process and can save IT professionals’ valuable time and resources along the way.