Fog of definitions hides hybrid cloud's truth

Hybrid cloud seems to be the flavour of the day, but most people fail to realise that it is really all about integration, says Lori MacVittie.

Some people continue to spout about the inexorable migration to public cloud computing, but surveys paint a different picture. So in the absence of mass adoption, the focus has switched to on-premise cloud computing in the belief that a hybrid cloud is the way forward. That shift has in turn started another debate about terminology.

This time it is about 'hybrid' and what that really means. Is it just a description of combining traditional deployment models with a cloud deployment model on-premise?

Does a hybrid cloud require both on-premise and off-premise cloud-deployment models? Just what does it mean to employ a hybrid cloud strategy?

Unproductive definitions
Most experts refuse to discuss the definition of cloud these days because it is unproductive. By and large they are right, because regardless of what any expert claims is or is not cloud computing, organisations are moving ahead with their own implementations.

Organisations have come to understand what many — usually those with a vested interest in narrowing the definition — refuse to acknowledge. Cloud computing is a deployment model, an architecture, an application-delivery model, but it is not a tangible thing that can only exist in specific locations.

Those who have already come to that conclusion are likely to also recognise that hybrid cloud is merely an integration strategy. It is the means by which they can control their applications and infrastructure while taking advantage of public cloud computing resources.

Regardless of whether a hybrid strategy focuses solely on internal deployment or includes external deployment options, the key to hybrid is integration.

Riding the hype wave
Once upon a time, when service-oriented architecture (SOA) and web-oriented architecture (WOA) were riding the hype wave, everyone focused on integration. How do we integrate applications that simply couldn't be webified — mainframe-tethered applications, for example — into our web architecture?

How do we integrate partners' systems with our own to make our supply chain processes more efficient? How do we integrate web services with our own applications?

This same process is occurring now, but at the infrastructure level. Instead of simply integrating applications — something with which IT is well versed these days — we are shifting our focus toward integrating infrastructure — something with which IT is not so well versed.

But like its application predecessors, a successful integration strategy must be able...