The great cloud migration was accelerated by the pandemic, when hybrid and remote work environments were adopted on a large scale, thus increasing demand for the flexibility, efficiency, and security that cloud solutions provide. By 2026, cloud will be the fundamental underlying platform for 75% of organizations, predicts research firm Gartner. When choosing a cloud solution, it is important for companies to understand the difference between public and private clouds.
What Is Public Cloud?
Cloud solutions can be offered via the internet from third parties using either a public or private cloud. Nearly everyone is familiar with public cloud services, which are dominated by global companies like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon. These companies maintain massive infrastructures and host a wide range of cloud services, including email, data storage, documents, websites, and much more. For instance, Google’s widely used suite of services includes Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Drive, a cloud storage and file-sharing platform. Users can access these cloud-based technologies from any device.
Many basic public cloud services are free, while more advanced services are offered via a subscription model. For instance, Zoom videoconferencing, a public cloud service that grew exponentially during the pandemic, allows group meetings for up to 40 minutes for free but requires a subscription for meetings of unlimited length and certain other features. In 2022, worldwide end-user spending on public cloud services reached $491 billion, according to Gartner.
What Is Private Cloud?
With private cloud, the cloud environment and resources are dedicated to and accessible only by one company or organization. While large organizations may have the resources to set up and manage their own private cloud using an onsite data center, small and midsized businesses typically work with a third-party private cloud provider. With a private cloud, the services and infrastructure are fully maintained on a private network, with all software and hardware dedicated solely to the individual client. Private cloud combines many of the advantages of public cloud – including flexibility, scalability, and access from any device – with advanced support, customization, and security features.
Support
Public clouds are built to serve as many customers as possible, thus generating more revenue for the provider. When your company has technical issues, whether routine or urgent, these global providers are not set up to provide attentive, timely support. Private cloud providers, on the other hand, are in business to serve as partners to their clients. Maintaining and supporting their clients’ systems are crucial elements of the service they provide. Good private cloud providers’ support teams will have intimate knowledge of the products you are using and will provide responsive technical support and services to address your needs.
Customization
A good private cloud provider will serve as a strategic partner with your business and will work with you to customize and optimize your system to support your business goals. With a private cloud provider, you have more freedom and access to expert guidance when customizing software and add-on services, such as integrating collaboration and automation tools to streamline your operations.
Cybersecurity
When you work with a private cloud provider, you have more control over security features, which makes private cloud the top choice of organizations, such as law firms, healthcare organizations, and financial service providers, that maintain sensitive data and/or fall within industries with strict cybersecurity compliance standards. With public cloud, you have no control over which hardware your environment sits in, who it’s being shared with, and how secure the network connections are.
When you choose a private cloud provider, inquire if they own their own infrastructure, which enables them to have complete control of the systems they host. The provider’s private cloud should operate from multiple data centers that are enterprise N+1 level facilities with multiple layers of security, including biometric access controls and military-grade encryption. Verify that the cloud service provider’s facilities are third-party audited and meet all compliance standards required by your industry. It’s also important to verify that the provider implements best practices with multi-layered security measures that include patch management, anti-virus, anti-malware, secure DNS, 24x7x365 monitoring, security audits, strong password policies, and multi-factor authentication (MFA).
Tabush Group is a leading provider of secure cloud-based IT solutions. To learn more about how Boxtop, our Desktop as a Service (DaaS) solution, can make your firm’s operations more efficient and secure, contact us.