Private vs. Public Cloud for BI

As I mentioned before, migrating to the cloud it doesn’t have to be hard or expensive. When migrating to the cloud, there are many options including on-ramping solutions which leverage server templates provided by cloud providers; automation tools to rebuild apps into a provider’s stack; migration attempts to move servers as-is. But let’s delve a little deeper into understanding public and private cloud, so you can make the best decision for your business.

Private Cloud Service

• Great control. With the hardware being on-site, only your team will have access to the physical location of the data.
• High security. The hardware, data storage, and network can be customized for every organization, assuring the highest levels of security.
• Higher performance. If the private cloud is deployed locally, internal applications will not have network and latency performance delays that could be an issue with public cloud services.
• Compliance.  If location of data and dedicated infrastructure is a requirement, private cloud could be the best option for compliance.
• Customizable. Infrastructure can be customized in the private cloud because it is company’s property.

Public Cloud Service

• Simple and efficient. All you need is an Internet connection to allow you to access the data stored by a third-party provider. The provider will host and manage the system and usually charge a monthly or a yearly usage fee.
• Low cost. Costs are reduced because no physical hardware is purchased by the organization and users can choose a pay-as-you-go model – meaning that they pay only for what they need.
• Time saving. infrastructure is not on-site, so you don’t have to worry about wasting time with maintaining, changing or updating the software or hardware.
• No maintenance. This is the provider’s responsibility, so internal IT employees are not required in maintaining the system.

When deciding to moving your BI to the cloud, most of the time it’s all about resources, including the physical hardware to store the data, the staff needed to maintain the hardware, the amount of money spent on monitoring and updating infrastructure. The difficulty in choosing between private and public cloud comes from the fact that companies prefer the security, control and compliance provided by the private cloud, and the agility and convenience of the public cloud. That’s why the most suitable option might be a hybrid cloud. With a hybrid cloud, organizations can keep the critical apps on a private cloud and apps with less security concerns on the public cloud. This kind of solution will give both the scalability and cost-effectiveness of the public cloud and will also meet the security needs a private cloud is able to provide.

With all the opportunities cloud brings today, cloud BI is the new way to do Business Intelligence. We are no longer obliged to implement complex and expensive infrastructure on site, because the BI software can now run in the cloud.

Photo source: https://www.sxc.hu/photo/370779