Hybrid cloud: what goes to the cloud and what stays in your datacenter?

The cloud promises flexibility, but the bill sometimes rises faster than expected. At the same time, your datacenter is nearing the end of its life and AI demands more computing power. Then the question becomes which workloads you move to the cloud and which you are better off keeping close.

In this guide, we set out how to make that choice and how to manage a hybrid environment, based on the projects we run with our clients.

A hybrid cloud combines public cloud, such as Microsoft Azure, with infrastructure in your own datacenter or at a colocation partner. You manage both as one whole and choose, per workload, the place that fits best in terms of cost, performance, security and regulation.

For most organisations, that is the logical choice. Some applications belong in the cloud, others are better and cheaper hosted in your own environment, for example because the data is sensitive or because the load is stable and predictable.

The cloud bill keeps rising and nobody knows exactly why. The datacenter needs renewing, but it is unclear what you still want on-premises. Backups are running, but the last recovery test was a long time ago. Cloud and on-premises are managed as two separate worlds. And the question of where your data is and who can access it weighs more and more heavily.

The steps below bring order to this.

Make an overview per application: how heavily it is used, which other systems it depends on, what it costs today and how sensitive the data is. Also look at your plans for the coming years, such as new sites or AI applications.

Workloads with a fluctuating load, or that need to scale quickly, often belong in the public cloud. Applications with a stable load, strict latency requirements or data that must stay close for compliance or sovereignty reasons are better placed on-premises or on Azure Local, the Azure environment in your own datacenter.

Digital sovereignty plays a growing role here. Know where your data is, which legislation it falls under and who has access to it.

Before you migrate, you want to know what it costs. A documented architecture with a cost estimate shows upfront what the migration and the monthly operation cost, both in the cloud and on-premises. That way you compare scenarios based on figures.

A migration to Azure or a datacenter move is best done in phases, so your business keeps running. You start with the lowest-risk workloads and build experience before you move the critical systems.

That is how Xylos moved a client's entire network and datacenter architecture to colocation, and how Xylos manages network, backup, cloud and the digital workplace for Mediahuis with the same team.

A backup is only as good as your last successful recovery test. Choose a solution that also protects your data against ransomware, both in the cloud and on-premises, and set out in a disaster recovery plan how quickly which systems must be available again. Test that plan at fixed moments.

After the migration, management begins. With FinOps, you make your cloud costs visible per team or application, scale down resources you do not use and choose the right pricing plans. Combine that with patching and monitoring, so your environment stays secure and up to date.

• Does the partner look at the best place for each workload, or does it push everything in the same direction?

• Do you get an architecture with a cost estimate upfront?

• Do the specialists have experience with both infrastructure and cloud?

• How does the partner protect and test your backup and recovery?

• Does the partner keep managing your environment and monitoring your costs after the migration?

Xylos is a Belgian family-owned tech company headquartered in Antwerp, with forty years of experience and more than 150 certified experts. Xylos is a Microsoft Solutions Partner for Cloud & AI Platforms and works with HPE and Cohesity.

Xylos combines six building blocks depending on your situation: cloud migration with an upfront cost analysis, Azure adoption, datacenter move, backup and disaster recovery, FinOps and patching. Xylos uses the public Azure cloud, and Azure Local for workloads that must stay close for compliance reasons. Infrastructure and cloud specialists work in the same team.

A project runs in four steps: exploration, architecture and cost estimate, phased execution, and management and optimisation through Managed Services. Xylos has supported Mediahuis, Kaneka, Farys, Neuhaus and the Province of Antwerp, among others.

Curious which of your workloads belong in the cloud? Plan an exploratory conversation with our experts.