HYBRID CLOUD MANAGEMENT: FOUNDATIONS AND STRATEGIES

ABSTRACTAdoption of cloud-based systems has been relatively modest-regardless of significant marketing push by major public cloud providers. The cloud-based model utilizes distributed information technology services accessible over networks. The networks can be internal part of organizations ' infrastructure-intranets, or external, such as internet or mobile networks. Utilization of internal networks and services is preferred by organizations-private clouds. External networks and services provided by public cloud providers pose significant risks. The major risks associated with public clouds are security, control and accessibility. In public clouds, valuable organizational data can be compromised and damaged by external entities. Organizations utilizing public clouds lose control over their critical data and services, while external entities gain control. Furthermore, external networks are inherently insecure, monitored and substantially less reliable than organizational intranets. Despite numerous disadvantages of public clouds, there is a potential in combining private and public cloud systems-hybrid clouds. Hybrid clouds present unique challenges and possibilities. We explore pertinent aspects of hybrid clouds and introduce suitable strategies for their effective management. Such actionable knowledge is essential for managers of information technologies.JEL: M15, 014, 032, 033, L86, K12, K23, K42KEYWORDS: Hybrid Clouds, Cloud Hybridization, Cloud Management, Cloud Computing, Cloud-based Services, Information Technology Management, Actionable KnowledgeINTRODUCTIONOrganizations cannot rely on public cloud systems for their valuable data and services-it is too risky. Many organizations had to learn this lesson the hard way; for example WikiLeaks. The WikiLeaks' case clearly exposed the risks of adopting public cloud computing model and services (Sternstein, 2011). WikiLeaks contracted Amazon's public cloud services for hosting web content and data. After years of service, Amazon abruptly removed WikiLeaks' data and content, and terminated their services due to controversial issues. This happened simply based on the inquiry by US federal lawmakers without any legal proceedings (MacAskill, 2010; O'Connor, 2010). Businesses worldwide were stunned with Amazon's behavior-and accordingly adjusted their perspective on public cloud services. Amazon had already bad reputation for reliability. Amazon's cloud service outages and data damages have been causing numerous problems and economic losses for organizations (Bright, 2011; Clark, 2011; Musil, 2011).Google extends the dangers of public cloud services to entirely new levels. It is well know that Google collects excessive amounts of data via their web and mobile services, intentionally tracks users across web sites, devices, and even geographically-via global positioning satellite sensors, geolocation and wifi network location technologies. Google has entrenched hostility to privacy (Privacy International, 2007). It bypasses privacy settings and undermines any regulatory initiatives aimed at privacy, data protection and retention (MSDN, 2012). Google also employs numerous questionable practices to accumulate increasingly more data about users, businesses and governments (Doctorow, 2012; Mfonobong, 2012; Loftus, 2012). Google then analyses, processes and explores the collected data for its own economic benefit without any regard or concern for the original sources. Placing any data on their servers means complete loss of control and significant exploitation. The message is clear: public clouds pose risks that organizations cannot afford.Despite surmounting dangers of public clouds, cloud computing is still considered a promising trend. Understandably, the primary advocates of public cloud services are the public cloud providers themselves. However, public cloud systems are not the only ones available to organizations. There are three main cloud architectures: public, private and hybrid. …