3. Cloud deployment options

Public cloud is “the cloud” in general discussion. As defined by Google: “Public cloud is a type of computing where resources are offered by a third-party provider via the internet and shared by organizations and individuals who want to use or purchase them.”

Public cloud also provides a locally runnable option of public cloud. This way you can benefit from some of the public cloud services and benefits but run them locally in a data center. Examples include: Google Anthos, Azure Arc and AWS Outpost.

Private cloud is close to on-premises option. As defined by Microsoft: “The private cloud is defined as computing services offered either over the Internet or a private internal network and only to select users instead of the general public.

As the word states, hybrid cloud is a blend of different deployment options as part of application architecture. Combining on-premise, private cloud and public cloud services with relevant mix. With hybrid cloud, every infrastructure provides the best capabilities for applications but it may not be the most cost efficient solution to develop and maintain.

When an organization is using multiple public cloud providers as part of its architecture it is categorized as a multi-cloud setting. A typical set of multi-cloud options is using database from one public cloud, PaaS and user authentication from another.

Although these four deployment options will continue to exist, it can be seen that the future will be one with a focus on hybrid and multi-cloud. Applications and infrastructure that companies use become more and more complex. The type of cloud deployment is dependent on the types of systems and solutions a company needs, which means that a one-size-fits-all type approach becomes less and less feasible.