Hybrid Cloud Data Pipelines – How to Integrate On-Premises and Cloud Environments for Best Results

By Anurag Sinha, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Wissen Technology

Every organization today understands (and hopefully exploits) the benefits of cloud computing. But despite surging cloud adoption, on-premises systems are commonly found across small, medium, and large businesses. To successfully integrate on-premises and cloud environments for the best results, organizations must build and manage hybrid cloud data pipelines.

The Enterprise Landscape Is Becoming Increasingly Hybrid 

According to Gartner, cloud computing lays the foundation for new digital experiences. With 95% of new digital workloads expected to be deployed on cloud-native platforms by 2025, it is easy to understand why. Yet, with all the frenzy around cloud computing, on-premises systems are still extremely popular. Did you know? 71% of the world’s Fortune 500 companies still use mainframes, which handle 68% of the world’s production IT workloads.

So, what makes hybrid environments so powerful? Hybrid environments offer organizations high levels of control over their sensitive data. Firms in the banking or healthcare sectors commonly store their sensitive data in on-premises systems to have the reigns in their hands.

Hybrid infrastructures also allow companies to tap into the flexibility and power of the public cloud and scale operational capacity when computing demands spike. At the same time, hybrid environments enable businesses to leverage the security of on-premises infrastructure while enjoying the cost-effectiveness and business continuity benefits of the cloud.

Building and Managing Hybrid Cloud Data Pipelines Is the Need of the Hour

Regardless of the size or sector, hybrid environments are a common sight across businesses. To ensure seamless and efficient business operations, organizations must consider building and managing robust hybrid cloud data pipelines that make data from on-premises or cloud systems accessible in the target cloud environment.

Since hybrid environments collect and process data from different on-premises and cloud sources, organizations must have a good understanding of what, where, and how data is collected. They must then use this information to design appropriate data pipelines, thereby eliminating errors, overcoming latency issues, and enabling timely decisions.

That said, here are some tips to build and manage hybrid cloud data pipelines to drive the best results:

Understand Data Sources

Hybrid environments gather and process data from a variety of diverse sources. To build the right data pipelines, it is important to have a clear understanding of the different data sources. From sensors and mobile apps to on-premises servers, streaming devices, websites, and more – you must have clarity on the various sources to craft the right data integration principles.

Streamline Data Aggregation

Once all the data sources are identified and listed, you must begin the process of data aggregation. Collecting, processing, and summarizing data from different sources so it can be used for data analysis is crucial. Since a lot of this data can be sensitive, it is important to anonymize it to curtail privacy and non-compliance issues.

Ensure Real-Time Data Synchronization

Cloud systems need to operate in real-time. Therefore, it is important to make data available to these applications continuously. For hybrid environments, you must invest in tools that use a local cache to serve and store changes – if and when they go offline – and automatically synchronize them once online.

Consider Edge Data Management

In addition to enabling real-time data pipelines, it is also advisable to bring computing capabilities closer to where the data is stored. For use cases where data cannot be stored in the cloud, it pays to consider edge data management. You can bring compute workloads closer to on-premises systems to curtail the issue of latency, accelerate analysis, and quicken decision-making.

Eliminate Silos

When organizations grow, they end up using different formats and types of data for different business purposes – which may lead to the creation of silos. While creating a hybrid or multi-cloud data pipeline, you must store data from all sources in a single cloud repository. Such unified storage helps improve visibility and transparency while also ensuring any changes are automatically made.

Enable Strong Access Control

To ensure secure and authorized access to hybrid data, you must enable strong access control. Single sign-on and multifactor authentication are great ways to enable identity- or role-based access controls for teams. They also provide operational visibility into who has access to data and for what purpose.

Ensure Zero-Trust Data Sharing

When it comes to hybrid cloud environments, ensuring data security without leaking information is critical. When sensitive data is involved, you must embrace techniques such as encryption to maintain the integrity, confidentiality, and security of hybrid data.

Monitor and Measure

Hybrid cloud data pipelines need continuous monitoring to ensure they function properly. You must utilize monitoring tools and dashboards to track the health and performance of your data pipeline across hybrid environments and ensure compliance with industry requirements – especially while handling sensitive information.

In a Nutshell

In today’s hybrid environment, companies that master the emerging discipline of big data analytics are the ones that differentiate themselves from their competitors. However, as the number, type, and complexity of data sources and formats skyrocket, collecting, managing, and processing diverse data sets is becoming increasingly challenging.

A well-designed hybrid cloud data pipeline can enable you to maximize the benefits of both on-premises and cloud solutions. Keep these tips in mind to build efficient data pipelines, enable agility and scalability of your hybrid cloud environments, and maintain control and security over your data.