Companies in every industry are moving all or part of their infrastructure to cloud solutions.  Deciding to use a public cloud or your own private cloud or mixture is a decision we must make, Private clouds can deliver many of the benefits and savings that a public cloud solution can offer. Some of the most common benefits cited for cloud solutions come from the consolidation into a centralized model.

Let’s take a closer look at the list of benefits for moving to the cloud and how it can be sliced up between public and private cloud options. In the graphic below, you can see that where the consolidation occurs does not matter, as the features and functionality are typically the same, just the physical location of the servers has changed. What is different though, is the benefits of each distinct model, which I outline below.

Benefits of Private or Public Cloud

• Increased Flexibility – Being able to add new features and functionality in a rapid fashion or move/re-assign those features to where they’re most needed across the organization.
• Elasticity – The ability to scale up or down to meet seasonality and growth needs.
• Resiliency – With fewer moving parts, the use of virtual servers and redundant architecture, a more hardened infrastructure can be deployed to provide for better continuity across all systems.
• Streamlined maintenance and upgrades – The burden of continued maintenance and eventual upgrades is lessened as the point solutions and individual servers at multiple sites are brought under a central maintenance model.

Benefits of Private Cloud

• Customization and integration – With all parts of the solution on an organizations local site, the ability to mold the solution to fit exactly their business model and integration to in-house solutions is much easier.
• Security – While many public cloud options offers many levels of security, the private cloud affords an organization the ability to physically have access to all parts of their infrastructure, as it relates to data security and compliance issues.

Benefits of Public Cloud

• Minimal Capital Expenditures – If cost is an issue the public cloud has the advantage. With all parts of the physical hardware shifted to the hosting provider, the IT group no longer is in the hardware acquisition business.
• limination of maintenance and upgrades – While in the private cloud model maintenance and upgrades were made easier, with the public cloud model that burden shifts completely from the organizations’ IT staff to the hosting provider.
• Reduction in staff – With the offloading of the physical hardware and the burden of the software maintenance moved to the hosting provider, the organization can expect the role of their IT staff to change.

Clearly, the benefits you gain depend on which method of deployment you choose. If you’re in the process of planning cloud  infrastructure, don’t just compare premise and public cloud. My advice? Make sure the products you’re looking at can give you an option between the two so you can select the best option for your business.