While you’ve probably heard this term thrown around a lot, actually defining it is a bit trickier! The name is a little misleading too, as data stored ‘on the cloud’ is typically stored at a data centre, very much on (and often under) the ground.
In its simplest terms, a cloud platform stores your organisation’s data somewhere other than on your own servers. You can choose whether to use a public cloud platform, where you share technology at a data centre with other organisations or bring in cloud architects to create your own private cloud environment.
Public cloud storage is offered by public cloud providers like Dell EMC, Amazon Web Services, and IBM Cloud. Private cloud data centres and virtual machine services are offered by companies like VMware vSphere, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and Red Hat.
And then, of course, you have hybrid cloud data services, which brings the two together. A hybrid cloud storage environment requires the services of a third-party vendor (that’s us!) to implement. We don’t offer cloud software or hardware ourselves, but rather help businesses and other organisations select and manage the hybrid cloud solution that’s right for their needs.