Many mid-sized businesses use more than one and most large enterprises use all three of the cloud provider services listed below: 

• Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) delivers compute, network and storage resources to consumers on-demand, over the internet and on a pay-as-you-go basis. IaaS enables end users to scale and shrink resources on an as-needed basis, reducing the need for high, up-front capital expenditures or unnecessary “owned” infrastructure, especially in the case of workload spikes.
• Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) provides a complete cloud platform (e.g., hardware, software and infrastructure) for developing, running and managing applications without the cost, complexity and inflexibility associated with building and maintaining that platform on-premises.
• Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) refers to application software hosted on the cloud for end-user applications (e.g., Zoom, Dropbox). The SaaS service provider is responsible for operating, managing and maintaining the software and the infrastructure on which it runs. SaaS is the most common public cloud service and the dominant software delivery model. 

Network connectivity is a critical component of hybrid cloud architecture. Network connections enable the sharing of resources across multiple locations. 

Hybrid cloud connectivity relies on the use of the following technologies:

• VPN (virtual private network) establishes a secure, point-to-point connection between two network endpoints (nodes). A VPN establishes an encrypted channel that keeps a user’s transferred data and identity and access credentials private over the internet. With a VPN, on-premises and private cloud infrastructure can connect safely over the public network with private, secure connections. 
• WAN (wide area network) connects computers over a wide area, such as from region to region or even continent to continent. The internet is the largest WAN, connecting billions of computers worldwide. In enterprise business, a WAN connects offices, data centers, cloud applications and cloud storage together. A cloud-based WAN allows organizations to connect on-premises networks at their company offices and data centers with cloud-based storage, applications and other resources. 
• APIs (application programming interfaces) are a set of defined rules that enable different applications to communicate with each other, acting as an intermediary layer that processes data transfers between systems. APIs allow companies to open their application data and functionality to external third-party developers, business partners and internal departments. In a hybrid cloud architecture setup, APIs are calls through an HTTP request between clouds to connect apps, databases and networks.

Modern hybrid cloud architecture relies on virtualization technology, which uses software to create an abstraction layer over the physical hardware to a virtual compute system, essentially creating multiple virtual computers known as virtual machines (VMs). Virtualization, first developed for business by VMware, is a critical component of enterprise cloud computing. It enables organizations to run multiple virtual computers, operating systems and applications on a single physical server. It also allows users to purchase computing resources on an as-needed basis and efficiently scale those resources cost-effectively as their workloads grow.

Beyond virtual servers, hybrid cloud architecture uses many other types of virtualization, including network virtualization. Network virtualization includes software-defined networking (SDN), which virtualizes hardware that controls network traffic routing (called the “control plane”). Network function virtualization (NFV) virtualizes one or more hardware appliances that provide a specific network function (e.g., a firewall, load balancer or traffic analyzer), making those devices easier to configure, provision and manage. 

Virtualization also enables Infrastructure as Code (IaC), which automates the provisioning of infrastructure, allowing developers to develop, deploy and scale cloud applications with enhanced speed, less risk and reduced cost. 

Containers—lightweight, executable application components that combine application source code with all the operating system (OS) libraries and dependencies required to run the code in any environment—also comprise an essential part of modern hybrid cloud architecture. Rather than virtualizing the underlying hardware like VMs, containers virtualize the operating system (usually Linux or Windows). 

With better portability and resource efficiency than virtual machines (VMs), containers have become the de facto compute units of modern cloud-native applications. Built to operate only in the cloud, cloud-native applications are designed by DevOps and other teams to be scalable and are comprised of microservices (also called microservices architecture). This means that a single application is composed of many smaller, loosely coupled and independently deployable components or services.

Microservices speed the development and deployment of software because each service can be developed and deployed separately. Many leading enterprises have moved from developing monolithic applications to microservices applications, such as Amazon, which uses microservices to track user activities, their history and other data to make real-time recommendations for better customer experiences.

Today’s hybrid cloud computing approach involves a unified platform for discovering, operating and managing on-premises, private and public cloud data and resources. A combination of hybrid cloud platforms and tools unify compute, storage, networking databases analytics and security functions to provide consistency and reliability throughout the diversified hybrid cloud landscape.

Common hybrid cloud platforms featuring pre-configured hardware, software and services include AWS Outposts, Google Cloud Platform, VMware Hybrid Cloud and Red Hat OpenShift. Each platform typically incorporates standard cloud technologies like Kubernetes to orchestrate container-based services and other software-based features. These unified management tools for monitoring, allocating and managing those resources from a single pane of glass provide an IT and network management strategy used to consolidate multiple monitoring tools and data feeds into a single interface.

Here’s a rundown of the critical functions associated with a hybrid cloud management platform: 

Resource management: Hybrid-cloud-managed service tools help stakeholders allocate and reallocate resources across on-premises and cloud environments based on application requirements. For instance, an organization like a financial institution can use a private cloud to keep sensitive customer information and use the public cloud to test new applications, such as mobile banking apps.

Workload orchestration: Hybrid cloud architectures use container orchestration tools (e.g.,  Kubernetes or Docker Swarm) to automate containerized workloads. These technologies help developers to quickly deploy, run and sync their containers on clusters of servers at different locations. They also enhance the scalability of containerized workloads, which means DevOps and other teams can automatically add the Kubernetes clusters that run containerized applications as needed, resulting in less downtime and optimal performance. 

Data integration: Hybrid environments gather and process data from various diverse sources, which calls for data integration—the process of combining data from multiple source systems to create a unified view.

Data management solutions for hybrid cloud include data analytics software platforms that collect, organize and analyze data using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Many of these data integration tools incorporate the design concept of a data fabric, which runs on top of the diverse technologies in a hybrid environment, combining data from multiple source systems to create a unified view. 

Data governance: Data governance tools provide another technology layer in hybrid cloud architecture for organizations to create and maintain policies and protocols that outline how their data must be stored, managed and used according to compliance and regulatory standards.

Security: Hybrid cloud security involves the technologies and best practices used to protect an organization’s sensitive information in an environment where data and applications flow across a combination of on-premises, private cloud and public cloud platforms. The security layer of hybrid cloud architecture involves technical controls like encryption, network authentication and management software:

• Data encryption: Data encryption is used in hybrid cloud settings to protect sensitive data against data breaches or cyberattacks, including malware and ransomware. 
• Identity and access management (IAM): IAM management tools are a standard method of authorization that create digital identities for all users so they can be actively monitored and restricted during all data interactions.
• Security information and event management (SIEM): SIEM management tools provide security monitoring and observability consoles along with a comprehensive security orchestration solution that automates threat monitoring, real-time threat detection and response.
• Disaster recovery (DR): Disaster recovery hybrid-cloud-based tools provide data protection for data backup, retention and retrieval to expedite the recovery of lost data and resume normal business operations.