In my recent blog, Moving your data to the cloud: Location Matters, and whitepaper I highlighted some things to consider when moving existing databases to "the cloud". Let's take a closer look at some of those considerations and how Quest's award-winning database replication product, SharePlex can help you on your journey.
As we've already discussed, hear are some of the reasons companies consider moving to the cloud:
- Reduce costs
- Reduce risks
- Reduce "time to market"
There are also challenges associated with any changes:
- Security
- Compliance
- Performance
Finally, different cloud deployment models have different characteristics that can either mitigate or increase these challenges:
- Public Cloud
- Community Cloud
- Private Cloud
- Hybrid Cloud
Deciding where to locate your data is a "balancing act" that achieves your goals; but at the same time reduces challenges to acceptable levels. Let's consider each of the challenges in more detail and see how SharePlex can help.
Security
Security, protecting your data from unauthorized access, is a major concern for all companies. Moving sensitive data to the cloud may or may not be in your best interests. Which deployment model you choose could have significant implications.
For example, an Electronic Medical Record system might not be best placed in an off-premise public cloud, since you'd be transmitting that data over a shared network and using shared compute and storage resources. On the other hand an on-premise private cloud, managed by your employees, would be the most expensive cloud solution, and at least at this writing, there are few "Software as a Service" offerings in the EMR space. So, the "best" solution here might be some sort of Hybrid Cloud, leveraging a combination of on-premise private cloud for the most sensitive data, and a hosted Community or Public Cloud for less sensitive data.
All companies have payroll and personnel data. Here