Developing a strategy to build, deploy and run workloads in a cloud operating model across your Microsoft data estate is not as easy as simply moving everything off-premises. Considerations include:
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- Preparing for varying types and volumes of data you are managing and meeting the performance and availability SLAs for applications working with the data.
- Ensuring mission-critical data hosted off-premises is adhering to the security policies and government regulations governing this data.
- Avoiding the traps associated with costs, including costs associated with moving and accessing the data, and the general fees of hosting on third party platforms. Some businesses have had to repatriate workloads from the cloud because the cost of storing their data on a public cloud was prohibitively expensive.
It is also not as easy as just leaving everything on-premises. You still have the same concerns as when considering moving the data to an off-premises cloud. However, you also must consider:
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- Is it an efficient use of people, resources and budget to manage all the data on-premises?
- What is more cost effective when it comes to application testing and development?
- What about storage of cold, archived and read-only data you must maintain for regulatory requirements?
- Can you still easily access and query the cold/archived data residing in S3 object storage using T-SQL?
- Do you have the infrastructure and technology in place to support the development of cloud-native applications or unprecedented increases in demand to meet performance SLAs?
Then there is the human aspect to consider—the need for trust and control. There is comfort in working within an environment you already know, knowing where your data is at all times and having complete ownership/management.
As you can see, there are many aspects to consider when developing a cloud strategy for your Microsoft data estate, especially when it comes to data placement and management. A hybrid or multicloud approach brings together the best of both worlds, making it possible for IT organizations to select the optimal location for their data, while reducing risk and complexity.
Dell Technologies and Microsoft have responded with secure, innovative and scalable technology solutions designed to meet you wherever you are in your cloud strategy, so you can unlock the value from your data, wherever it resides. When a strategy is put in place using the right software and hardware solutions, the possibilities can be endless. By deploying a flexible and agile architectural approach with Dell, IT organizations can bring together private, public and specialty cloud services into a single comprehensive, hybrid/multicloud operating model. They can also adjust their strategy more easily to changes in businesses priorities, resources and regulations.
Data Placement and Management is Integral to any Cloud Strategy
Data placement practices that respect the rules of data gravity can provide the performance, availability and security business critical workloads require. For example, Dell Technologies offers Infrastructure as-a-Service (IaaS) solutions with Dell APEX. APEX Cloud Services can be deployed in a variety of ways including colocation sovereign IT adjacency via Equinix, which lets you bring data closer to the applications and analytics hosted by hyperscalers, such as Microsoft Azure, while providing the security and control of an on-premises cloud.
A cloud adjacent solution using APEX and Equinix provides enterprises with the flexibility to deploy a private IT infrastructure in locations where users, clouds, networks and digital ecosystems physically meet with secure, highly performant, network connectivity. This approach can help reduce latency dramatically so organizations can get the best performance for any hybrid/multicloud architecture, all while eliminating unnecessary networking cost and bandwidth constraints.
When used with Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute, businesses can create private connections between Azure data centers and their on-premises or colocation environment. ExpressRoute connections offer more reliability, faster speeds and lower latencies than typical internet connections because they do not go over the public internet. Businesses that wish to take advantage of ExpressRoute, but do not have the budget or resources to invest in deploying the underlying network fabric, can benefit greatly from this colocation model powered with Dell Technologies infrastructure as-a-service solutions.
Of course, this is just one example. Businesses have many options when it comes to building a cloud operating model. The key to realizing their goals often means evolving their approach to the placement and management of structured and unstructured data across their entire data estate. This includes:
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- Simplifying data management by embracing a new paradigm for managing data virtually, from the edge to the core to the cloud, with solutions designed to simplify management and accelerate deployment.
- Securing data with security-enabled hardware and software solutions from Dell Technologies and Microsoft designed to secure data across the Microsoft data estate.
- Maximizing the value of data by enabling users to access data quickly and easily across all platforms and environments, wherever it lives, to make better informed decisions—faster.
There are many aspects to consider when developing a cloud strategy, especially when it comes to data placement and management. IDC describes it this way, “Hybrid cloud platforms enable enterprises to select the right infrastructure for the right workload, thereby enabling them to make efficient workload placement decisions that help better meet requirements while controlling costs.”¹
Read our white paper Winning in the New Era of Data Management to learn more about how Dell Technologies solutions for Microsoft data platform can help businesses develop a placement and management strategy that aligns with their hybrid/multicloud objectives.
1 Based on IDC Whitepaper commissioned by Dell Technologies, Intel and VMware, “Optimizing Workload Placement in your Hybrid Cloud”, July 2020. Full report.