A hybrid cloud strategy that says what runs where, and why

Few organizations move everything to one cloud. Some systems stay on premises for latency, cost or regulation, others move to Azure, AWS or Google Cloud, and the result works only if identity, networking, security and monitoring treat it as one estate. We help you decide where each workload belongs, and set up the pieces that hold it together.

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What we cover

Where each workload runsPlacement decided workload by workload
One estateIdentity, network and security that span every location
Running itMonitoring, backup and recovery for the whole estate
Moving at your paceHybrid as a stage, or as the destination

Where each workload runs

Placement decided workload by workload

A hybrid strategy starts with an inventory, not a target. For each application and database we record what it depends on, how sensitive its data is, how much latency it can tolerate, what it costs to run today and what its licenses allow. Some answers are clear: a system near the end of its hardware life, with a cloud-ready replacement, moves; a plant-floor system that must keep working when the internet does not stays local.

The rest are judgment calls, and we write down the reasoning so the decision can be revisited. The outcome is a placement for every workload, on premises, in one of the clouds or as software as a service, and the order in which things move.

What we do

An inventory of applications, data and dependencies
Placement criteria agreed with you: data sensitivity, latency, cost and licensing
A placement and a sequence for every workload
Running costs compared for on-premises and cloud options

One estate

Identity, network and security that span every location

Hybrid estates fail at the seams. People get a different sign-in for each environment, traffic between sites takes the long way round, and security tools see only half the picture. We use one identity for people and services in every location, usually Microsoft Entra ID connected to your directory. Networks connect over VPN or private links, with addressing planned so nothing overlaps. Firewalls and security policies cover office and cloud traffic from one console, which is what we designed and deployed for a client with Palo Alto Networks next-generation firewalls.

For servers that stay on premises, Azure Arc brings them under the same policies, updates and monitoring as cloud resources, so your team manages one estate rather than two.

What we do

One identity for people and services across every environment
Site-to-cloud and cloud-to-cloud networking without overlapping addresses
Security policies and firewalls that cover office and cloud traffic
On-premises servers managed alongside cloud resources

Running it

Monitoring, backup and recovery for the whole estate

Every location needs the same basics: monitoring that reaches the people who act on it, backups that are tested by restoring them, and a recovery plan that says which systems come back first. In a hybrid estate the cloud can also be the recovery site for systems that stay on premises, which is often the cheapest first step into it.

A strategy also has to stay current. Prices, contracts and hardware change, so we suggest reviewing the placement once a year and whenever a renewal or a hardware refresh is due, and moving workloads in either direction when the reasons change.

What we do

Monitoring across on-premises and cloud systems
Backups checked with test restores
The cloud as a recovery site for on-premises systems
A yearly review of what runs where

Moving at your pace

Hybrid as a stage, or as the destination

For some organizations hybrid is the plan for years: the core systems stay where they are and new work goes to the cloud. For others it is a stage on the way. A major California city, for example, first moved a mission-critical Oracle database off aging Solaris servers to Linux, without disrupting public services, and came out of it ready for a later move to the cloud. Either way, each step should leave the estate simpler than it was. When a workload is ready to move, our cloud migration and AWS RDS migration pages describe how the move itself runs.

Case studies

Hybrid Cloud Strategy in practice

Client names are withheld. We are happy to share details on a call.

All case studies

Delivered
One security view
Not disclosed
Cloud Consulting
Unified network and cloud security with Palo Alto Networks
A client moving to cloud and remote work had limited visibility of threats across its network. We designed and deployed Palo Alto Networks next-generation security with central management covering both office and cloud traffic.
- One view of threats across office and cloud
- Fewer separate security tools to run
Read the case study →
Delivered
No service disruption
Local government
Cloud Consulting
A city's Oracle database moved off ageing Solaris hardware
A major California city ran a mission-critical Oracle database on Solaris servers nearing end of life. We mapped the dependencies, confirmed the applications would work unchanged and re-platformed the database to Linux without disrupting public services.
- No disruption to public services
- Minimal application changes
Read the case study →
Delivered
On-prem → Amazon RDS
Nonprofit
Cloud Consulting
Oracle from on-premises to Amazon RDS for a national nonprofit
The nonprofit's on-premises Oracle database had become hard to maintain and scale. We planned the move with automated workflows and validation tests, migrated to Amazon RDS for Oracle with minimal disruption and left a repeatable process for future changes.
- Automated, tested migration
- Less day-to-day database upkeep
Read the case study →

Questions

Common questions

What is the difference between hybrid cloud and multi-cloud?

Hybrid cloud combines systems on your premises with one or more public clouds. Multi-cloud means using more than one public cloud, for example Azure for Microsoft workloads and AWS for a database platform. Many estates are both, and the same disciplines apply: one identity, planned networking and consistent security.

Which workloads usually stay on premises?

Systems that need very low latency to equipment on site, systems that must work without an internet connection, data that a contract or regulator keeps in a specific place, and steady workloads on recently bought hardware where the cloud would cost more. The inventory shows which of these apply to you.

Does a hybrid estate need more people to run it?

It needs fewer tools rather than more people. When identity, monitoring, patching and security policy work the same way everywhere, one team can run both sides. Where that is not possible, we document the differences, so nothing depends on one person's memory.

Which clouds do you work with?

Microsoft Azure, AWS, Google Cloud and Oracle Cloud. We move servers, databases and file stores to each of them, and some of our clients run more than one.

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