In recent years, cloud technologies have become an integral part of business, providing companies with unlimited opportunities for storing and processing data. But how do we select the optimal cloud solution among many offers on the market? What criteria are really important for a successful transition to the cloud, and how to avoid possible risks? To answer these and other questions, we talked with Dmitry Urvantsev, Head of the IT Infrastructure Development Department at CSC-IT, who shared his experience and expert opinion on choosing cloud solutions for business.
Dmitry, the popularity of cloud solutions cannot but grow every year. Why is business increasingly opting for cloud solutions?
First of all, this is due to the flexibility and cost-effectiveness of cloud solutions. It is important for businesses to quickly adapt to changes, whether it is company growth or a temporary increase in data volume. At CSC-IT, we have long been using cloud technologies, which allows us to scale the infrastructure for specific tasks without significant expenditures for equipment. For example, in a traditional IT infrastructure, purchasing servers, setting them up and maintaining them requires significant investments of time and money. In the cloud, you can create virtual servers with the required characteristics in a matter of minutes.
An important aspect is the automation of resource management. Modern tools such as Terraform and Ansible allow us to manage infrastructure as code (IaC). This speeds up the process of deploying new servers, setting up network connections and updating systems, and also reduces the risk of human error. We actively use these technologies to maintain high speed and accuracy of infrastructure deployment for our internal and client-related projects. The IaC approach is especially important for businesses that strive for fast market entrance.
Clouds are also highly failure-proof. For example, cloud platforms offer load distribution between different data centers, which protects the business from failures. In the event of an incident with one data center, data and services will continue to operate from another, minimizing downtime.
What are the key criteria to consider when choosing a cloud solution for your business?
Choosing a reliable provider that can ensure data security is a priority for any company. Aspects such as encryption of data in transit and at rest are important here. At CSC-IT security comes first, so we carefully select providers and integrate various security tools, such as data encryption and key management with the help of HashiCorp Vault. Such services allow businesses to manage keys in a secure manner, minimizing the risk of their compromise.
A serious criterion is compliance with security requirements, such as Law 152-FZ or Order No. 21 of the Federal Service for Technical and Export Control of Russia. This is especially important for organizations working with sensitive data, such as financial institutions or medical companies. When choosing a cloud solution, it is important to make sure that the provider meets all regulatory requirements, including storing data in certain geographic zones.
Scalability also plays a key role. For example, if you work with large volumes of data, horizontal scaling can be an important aspect. Solutions, such as Auto Scaling, allow you to dynamically adapt resources to the load, which is especially important for high-load applications such as online stores or streaming services.
Another factor is logging and monitoring. At CSC-IT, we use Prometheus and Zabbix to continuously monitor all critical systems, which allows us to quickly respond to any failures and prevent them before they affect our customers' businesses.
Which type of cloud solution - public, private or hybrid - is best for a business?
The choice depends on the scale and specifics of the business. A public cloud is suitable for companies that need to deploy infrastructure quickly and at minimal cost. This is especially true for start-ups or small organizations. However, in public clouds, you depend on the level of security and configurations offered by the provider, which can be a limitation for businesses with high data protection requirements.
A private cloud is best suited for large companies with special security and privacy requirements, such as banks or healthcare organizations. Such companies need strict control over their IT infrastructure. A private cloud can be built in-house or on the basis of a specialized data center with full control over the network, data storage and access levels.
A hybrid cloud is the golden mean. It combines the advantages of public and private clouds, allowing businesses to store critical data on their servers and less important data in the public cloud. It also allows you to optimize costs: you can dynamically distribute resources between local infrastructure and the public cloud depending on the tasks.
What trends in cloud technologies can you highlight for the next few years?
Right now, the greatest interest lies with the development of multi-cloud solutions. Companies no longer want to depend on a single provider, and this is understandable: deploying infrastructure in several clouds reduces risks and increases fault tolerance. This approach is especially important for critical services, where downtime may be unacceptable.
Another trend is the growing popularity of artificial intelligence and machine learning in the cloud.
Many cloud providers offer specialized services for data analysis, which allows businesses to process large volumes of information faster and more efficiently. This is important for companies that seek to improve their products and services with the help of advanced technologies.
It is also worth noting the increased attention to microservices and containerization ecosystems. Cloud platforms significantly simplify the deployment and management of applications, which allows businesses to bring new solutions to market faster. At the moment, we are actively using Kubernetes to increase flexibility and speed of developing new solutions.
Dmitry, how to correctly assess the potential risks when switching to cloud solutions and how to minimize them?
It is important to remember that switching to the cloud is not just a technical step, but also a strategic decision that can affect the company's business processes. The key risk here is dependence on one provider. We always design the infrastructure in such a way that it is easy to switch to another cloud service, if necessary, which allows us to avoid the effect of "being locked in" in the ecosystem of one provider.
Another risk is compliance with regulatory requirements and laws. Some industries, such as finance or medicine, are required to store data in a certain country or region. When choosing a cloud solution, it is important to make sure that the provider complies with these requirements.
In addition, it is worth considering possible performance issues. Although the cloud offers excellent scalability, some business-critical applications may require low latency or high network transmission capacity. In such cases, additional optimization or the use of a private cloud may be required.
What features of cloud support and maintenance should be considered when choosing a provider?
This is a very important aspect. First, you need to understand what level of technical support the provider offers. Most companies provide different levels of support depending on the selected plan. Some offer 24/7 support with a dedicated account manager, while others only offer online chat rooms.
Another important feature is data availability and recovery time. Make sure that the provider furnishes an SLA (Service Level Agreement) that includes recovery time in case of failures or data loss.
This can be critical for the business, especially if the infrastructure is used to manage transactions or other important processes.
Finally, you need to evaluate the provider's update and security policies. How often are updates performed, are security patches provided, and how quickly does the provider respond to incidents? These factors directly affect the stability and security of the cloud environment.
Finally, what advice would you give to companies that are just starting to consider switching to cloud solutions?
At CSC-IT, we always start with a thorough analysis of customer needs in order to offer the most effective solution, which helps avoid mistakes at the very start. The cloud is not a panacea, and although it offers many benefits, its implementation must match the objectives of your business. Before switching to the cloud, determine what data and applications are critical to your business, what the security and scalability requirements are, and only then start considering various provider offers.
Also, do not be afraid to consult with experts. Transition to the cloud is a complex process, and competent advice can help avoid many mistakes at the start.
