Embracing Agility With Future-fit Cloud Architecture

Speed matters in digitalization, but the pandemic-fueled digital acceleration is starting to reveal its repercussions. Many businesses becoming interconnected through digitalization find themselves struggling to support efficient and secure data exchange with existing cloud architecture.

Today’s multicloud infrastructure does not always offer companies the flexibility to modernize legacy applications, safeguard data security and ensure consistent customer experiences. Further, the increasingly distributed workforce and complex IT ecosystem are putting many IT leaders under tremendous pressure to manage issues such as data sovereignty, privacy, interoperability, and compliance. They are eager to strike a balance between digital transformation and enterprise-wide agility. 

Embracing agility in the digital era

Many are turning to a hybrid cloud approach to achieve that balance. According to Flexera, 73% of businesses prefer a hybrid cloud as some critical data and apps are deemed too sensitive for the public cloud. Hybrid cloud offers IT leaders greater peace of mind by supporting legacy and proprietary in-house systems to remain on-premises while allowing businesses to enjoy cloud economies with less sensitive data processing in the public cloud.

With better agility and security, a hybrid cloud is especially helpful for CIOs facing new challenges.

The adoption of generative artificial intelligence (AI) used to take years, but out-of-the-box AI models enable swifter deployment. This compels CIOs to stay ahead with AI developments while juggling the escalating amount of data and computational resources required in generative AI.

Another major challenge for CIOs is the rise of Everything-as-a-service (XaaS). Gartner highlighted XaaS as one of the top trends shaping the future of cloud and edge infrastructure. A survey by Equinix also revealed that 81% of APAC IT leaders are embracing XaaS to increase agility and overcome complexity. But moving to XaaS also raised concerns about cybersecurity, cost and the risk of vendor lock-in. 

The rise of AI and XaaS also brings greater challenges for CIOs in data and governance. Data quality is instrumental to the success of AI, but inadequate data governance can undermine data quality. According to Gartner, this is costing companies an average of USD12.9 million annually. Too much data that cannot be harnessed effectively is also creating more liability for enterprises, causing increased compliance and regulatory risks. As collaboration requirements across complex business/IT ecosystems and geographically distributed workforces intensify, CIOs face challenges managing the data deluge while toeing the line for greater app interoperability, data integrity, and sovereignty.

Hybrid cloud to the rescue

With a hybrid cloud, CIOs can provide the flexibility and scalability that different digital initiatives require while addressing data security and compliance concerns.

For example, it empowers AI adoption by crunching production data in the cloud while keeping critical/sensitive data and workloads on-premises. This helps CIOs to manage data quality and volume better and streamline data architecture.

Businesses can also enjoy greater provisioning speed and agility when the hybrid cloud is deployed via a cloud-adjacent architecture. It allows the right data and workloads to be processed in the right cloud at the right time while maximizing access to public cloud services.

Digital initiatives that require a large amount of data movement between edge and cloud, like IoT, are another driver for adopting a hybrid cloud. It improves the performance of interconnected applications, enabling more secure and efficient IoT operations.

Nevertheless, a hybrid cloud is not perfect. The combination of platforms has made it challenging for IT leaders to optimize the deployment of apps, workflows, and data lakes. Having a technology strategy that right-fits, right-sizes, and right-locates infrastructure investments in a hybrid cloud will be the key for enterprises to achieve the agility required to keep pace with today’s fast-evolving business landscape.

Future-fit hybrid cloud infrastructure

Equinix and Telstra International have partnered to offer Telstra Hybrid Cloud, a fully managed, single-tenanted hybrid cloud deployment with rapid provisioning via Infrastructure as Code. It is powered by Equinix Metal, an automated interconnected and low-latency Bare Metal as a Service, which delivers fast, flexible and secure interconnected global infrastructure at software speed. It also features professional technology and consulting services from Telstra Purple.

Delivering the combined benefits of private and public clouds, the Telstra Hybrid Cloud ensures a secure, always-on, enterprise-grade and future-fit digital infrastructure that accelerates complex cloud migrations while isolating and protecting sensitive workloads.

• Eliminate high upfront CAPEX by offering dedicated hardware and flexible contract periods with predictable subscription-based billing.
• Enable rapid cloud provision via infrastructure as code with an integrated, flexible and secure cloud environment backed by high-speed global connectivity.
• Empower real-time, scalable data processing on the public cloud while storing and executing analytical processes of sensitive data on the private cloud; enable flexibility in managing large data volumes while ensuring robust security during data exchange.
• Manage data closer to its source and reduce the bandwidth required for edge computing; empower more responsive decision-making for personalized customer interactions.
• Facilitate compliance with greater control over data location and movement

Balancing speed with agility

Equinix and Telstra International’s long-standing partnership empowers enterprises with greater agility when adopting new technologies while accelerating the migration and deployment of complex cloud environments.

• Managed and dedicated infrastructure: Support journey towards multicloud with a fully managed and dedicated hybrid cloud deployment via Telstra Hybrid Cloud and Equinix Metal, which automates the deployment of interconnected bare metal infrastructure in minutes across 25+ global locations. Offer single tenancy to isolate sensitive workloads and access hardware-level security protocols. Seamlessly integrated with Equinix Fabric to connect distributed infrastructure globally via software-defined interconnection. End-to-end managed cloud services by Telstra Purple optimize workloads from the cloud to the edge, including updating, patching, and 24×7 proactive monitoring of network, security, and other infrastructure components.
• Speed of deployment: Accelerate migration and deployment of cloud environments 
  by provisioning on-demand infrastructure and connectivity in minutes via Equinix Metal. Roll out new apps and services globally with high-performance computing anytime, anywhere. Enjoy further flexibility and ease in purchasing, managing and navigating your cloud environment across the globe via Telstra Hybrid Cloud.
• Secured connectivity: Build a future-fit digital infrastructure foundation with a secure cloud environment via a dedicated, single-tenanted infrastructure hosted in Equinix International Business Exchange™ (IBX^®) data centers to ensure data sovereignty. Sharpen your security posture with Telstra International’s advanced managed network and security capabilities, including threat monitoring and management services, for a secure cloud environment.  

Contact us to discover how the Telstra-Equinix combined technology, global reach, and industry knowledge can be pivotal in shaping your strategy.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CDOTrends. Image credit: iStockphoto/unica_asi