Private cloud Services

Private cloud is a model of cloud computing in which all of the computing resources are owned and managed by an organization rather than by a third-party provider. This differs from a traditional data centre model in that, like public cloud offerings, computer processing, storage and network resources are virtualized into pools that are allocated and released as needed. Chargeback mechanisms ensure that the cost of such resources is allocated to the business units that use them.

Companies across Canada are adopting cloud services for many functions within their organizations. They use it for storage, backup, remote access and as a way to access various software applications as a service. However, once companies decide to use cloud based services, they have another decision to make; do they use public or private cloud services.

What are private cloud services?

Private cloud, which is also referred to as internal cloud or corporate cloud, is a cloud platform that is implemented behind your companies firewall and is commonly managed internally by your IT department. In this sense, it is a cloud system that is operated solely for your organization and limits access to verified system users, regardless if it is manage internally or externally.

While its design and purpose is the same as other cloud based computing, it differs in the sense that gives companies more control over internal data and information. Since data remains within the organizations firewall, there is less concern about security breaches and compliance related issues. This is an ideal solution for companies that want more control over their data, something that is not always available from third party cloud service providers.

The benefits of private cloud services

Private cloud services offer a number of benefits to Canadian organizations:

• Quick implementation: When using third party providers, Companies have the ability to quickly implement a cloud infrastructure. Organization can quickly access and add additional storage as required and match services to business requirements.
  
• Data security: Since data is protected behind your companies firewall, it is protected from the risk of attacks.
  
• Control: Private cloud allows companies to control which users have access to the system. Therefore, only authorized users have the ability to make changes to the cloud infrastructure. In this sense, company’s data and information is more secure.
  
• Data privacy: Since each company has its own private cloud network, the data remains private and only accessible internally. Scalability: Private cloud services allow companies to scale their storage and backup to meet the needs of their organization. This allows companies to adjust cloud services as required, making it a flexible solution that is ideal for companies that change on a regular basis.
  
• Cost: Companies have the ability to implement cost effective solutions such as infrastructure as a service (IaaS). With this private cloud option, companies do not have to pay for data storage hardware costs.
  
• No data sharing: You will have your own dedicated hardware and will not have to share computing or data storage hardware.

Hosted private cloud services

While some companies are opting to host and manage their cloud infrastructure internally, many are opting for third party organizations to host and manage their private cloud services. Having a third party company host has a number of benefits. They include:

• It allows your companies IT department to focus on business and other internal projects and issues.
  
• It creates a detailed and knowledgeable resource base for companies to utilize for all of their cloud service needs.
  
• Hosted service providers will have some form of uptime guarantee and will constantly monitor your private cloud to ensure it is functioning correctly.
  
• Companies will have service guarantees related to the hardware and security used by the host
  
• Companies have the ability to upgrade their services and expand capabilities quickly.
  
• Companies will have the ability to create sub accounts and have access to these accounts so they can manage them internally.
  
• Companies will have the ability to control access to the private cloud and have access to user activity logs to ensure their cloud services are safe and secure.