Recent changes in working habits and employee expectations have made the 5-day office week a thing of the past. Today’s leaders are quickly coming to the realisation that demanding constant ‘in-person’ attendance from their employees will result in high turnover and economic loss. In fact, 30% of employees would consider making a job switch if remote working was taken off the table as an option. Martin Hodgson, Director Northern Europe at Paessler AG explores how companies can adopt their workplaces in the age of hybrid work and big data.
It’s evident that companies offering flexibility over more traditional work models possess an advantage when it comes to attracting talent. But, offering a hybrid model needs careful thought and consideration, especially for businesses who still rely heavily on legacy IT infrastructure. Monitoring and safeguarding data across the home office and on-premises can present a significant challenge for those that are digitally unprepared.
This is where the hybrid Cloud comes in. Despite many organisations being aware of the advantages this approach offers, there is often an initial hesitancy when it comes to adoption. This is hardly surprising when the same ‘tried and tested’ IT processes have been implemented for decades.
However, it’s unlikely that we will ever see a complete return to traditional office structures so legacy IT must catch up. Without hybrid technology that makes every element of an organisation’s IT landscape trackable, businesses will struggle to maintain both the security and resiliency of their operations.
Back to basics: defining the hybrid Cloud
The hybrid Cloud is a concept with multiple interpretations, but the most popular definition is when it refers to the use of both a private Cloud and a public Cloud in parallel, or a connection between the two.
Many companies currently operate their own Cloud, a so-called “private Cloud”. Should demand for computing resources temporarily spike, the company is able to scale its resources by outsourcing some of the processing to a public Cloud.
In this way, the company can scale its data centre to handle normal traffic load rather than needing to invest in enough resources to handle peak loads. When demand drops down again, the organisation simply stops using the additional public Cloud resources. Any sensitive data and applications stay in the company’s private Cloud, whilst more menial processes are outsourced to the public Cloud. Digitised areas generate huge volumes of data that require transportation, storage and processing. The hybrid Cloud is able to tackle the complexity of such data because it gives companies the ability to transition between on-site storage or the public Cloud seamlessly, securing operations.
Sounds ideal – but what’s the catch? Without an overview across public and private environments, it’s easy for systems to become disjointed and inefficiencies to occur. When you add legacy IT infrastructure to the picture, things get even more complicated.
The relationship between effective IT monitoring and data security
The more important IT becomes for the success of a company, the more data is generated and processed, and the more complex – and thus more difficult to keep track of – IT landscapes become, the greater the threat of cybercrime for companies. Given that siloed operations can present a potential security risk, it’s surprising that some businesses are dragging their heels when it comes to migrating to the Cloud. Surprisingly, one of the biggest offenders is the public sector. In fact, despite traditionally dealing with reams of sensitive data, 92% of government data is still being stored on premises.
The slow transition to the Cloud might in part be due to an ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ attitude. Leaders face a myriad of possible challenges – including when it comes to security, compliance and software compatibility – as they bring old tech up to date. Similarly, IT teams are already inundated with day-to-day issues to resolve, from connectivity to data management. Sometimes, understandably, the thought of uprooting tried and tested IT processes can seem like too much legwork.
Having one effective monitoring system in place – with centralised dashboards and alerting capabilities – can grant businesses a more holistic picture. It will bring data from all locations – the OT environment, IIoT sensors, wired and wireless networks, and traditional IT devices and systems under one umbrella. It grants full visibility, something that is more vital than ever as cybercriminals continue to evolve and grow in sophistication.
Visibility enhances collaboration across hybrid environments
It is important to remember that businesses will only reap the rewards of a hybrid environment when it is paired with effective monitoring software. When such monitoring is introduced, data from the private and public Cloud as well as physical IT infrastructure can be easily viewed and streamlined. Not only does this promote watertight security, it also improves employee experience, because it speeds up issue resolution.
To keep up with the demands of shapeshifting work models, leaders should consider software that enables information to be captured, contextualised, and evaluated across the entire IT network. In complex and hybrid IT environments, gaining an understanding of the connection between systems is especially vital to identify issues ahead of time and minimise potential damages.
Many business leaders are still hesitant when faced with the prospect of migrating to the Cloud. However, IT infrastructure that is truly collaborative presents clear opportunities not only to increase efficiencies but also to ensure sensitive data is consistently monitored and safeguarded.
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