Which 6 Features Should You Demand in an Enterprise Cloud Platform?

As emerging trends drive enterprises toward cloud-based platforms for that edge of agility, innovation, and cost advantage, the choice of an enterprise cloud platform surely is becoming one of the very few strategic-level decisions. Hence, the choice must no longer be a matter of storage or computing power but rather one of adaptability, security, performance, and long-term scalability.

How do you ensure that your investment fulfills the demands of today’s world and remains future-proof with so many cloud providers declaring to offer the best solution? Demand these six must-have features from any enterprise-grade platform if you want a hybrid cloud platform that brings together the best of public and private clouds.

enterprise cloud platform

1. Unified Hybrid Cloud Architecture

Therefore, the hybrid cloud platform dissertation on architecture embraces on-premises infrastructure, private cloud, and public cloud environments. The goal is to facilitate a tight infusion so that workloads are moved easily and without soul-searching compatibility issues across environments.

Why does this matter? Well, the business environment today is highly dynamic. Some workloads demand high security and low latency; these are suitable for private clouds. At the same time, others desire to scale rapidly and cheaply under the public cloud. A well-established hybrid cloud platform can answer that call.

Also, in the modern world, hybrid cloud platform services maintain centralized governance and visibility of your entire IT infrastructure, hence risking the operational complexity of getting granular-level management done on your own in multiple environments.

2. Enterprise-Grade Security and Compliance

Security is a must for any enterprise cloud platform to have. With data breaches on the rise and regulatory challenges abound, the cloud provider must be able to offer all security capabilities that are to be implemented at every layer — network, storage, applications, and user access.

Look for features such as:

  • End-to-end encryption (in transit and at rest)

  • Zero Trust security model

  • Role-based access control (RBAC)

  • Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) integrations

  • Real-time threat detection and response

Whether you are dealing with a platform or exchange or have another technical background, you should always consider the issue of compliance. Is the platform, for example, compliant with international standards and some industry-specific standards such as ISO, GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI-DSS?

And if you happen to be working across different parts of the world, services for hybrid cloud platforms should give you setup options for controls of data residency and sovereignty because you will, in some manner, need to implement local protections for your data against the regulations.

3. Scalability and High Performance

Standing as a robust enterprise cloud platform targeted at scaling resources instantaneously based on real-time demand, there are many names one would want to put on this platform. Whether eCommerce spikes are the issue or complex analytics and AI/ML models are the need that calls for deployment, your platform must ensure high availability and better performance.

Key features to look for include:

  • Auto-scaling infrastructure

  • Load balancing across multiple regions or zones

  • Support for container orchestration platforms like Kubernetes

  • SSD-backed storage with high IOPS

  • Low-latency global networking

Scalability must not only be about volume but, instead, should be about smart and cost-effective resource allocation that ensures that systems never go down or lag in the critical time of need.

4. AI & Analytics Capabilities

As the digital age is evolving, data storage is more about mining for insights. Therefore, your enterprise cloud platform should have AI, machine-learning, and big-data-analytic features natively so that you can generate maximum business value from your operational and customer data.

Prefer platforms that offer:

  • Integrated ML services and APIs

  • Data lakes and warehouse integrations

  • Predictive analytics tools

  • Real-time dashboards and reporting

  • Support for open-source analytics frameworks like Apache Spark or TensorFlow

Open-source analytics frameworks must be supported by the program — for example, Apache Spark or TensorFlow.

You have to remember that cloud-based technologies also are beginning to blend hybrid solutions with those seamless ones. A good hybrid cloud platform service should be able to run the entire data pipeline and model operations wherever the data physically lies.

5. Vendor Interoperability and Open Standards

The ideal Cloud and Platform Services should be free from vendor lock-in. Open standards and support for multi-cloud environments are keys to averting the dreaded vendor dependency, which can either fatten your costs or thin your flexibility.

Look for platforms that support:

  • Open APIs

  • Compatibility with major public cloud providers (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud)

  • Integration with enterprise applications (SAP, Oracle, Salesforce)

  • Open-source technologies and container-based deployments

Toggling workloads between private and public clouds, with a foundational difference, is important as these capabilities are managed by a single tool across the hybrid platform of today.

6. Reliable Support and SLAs

Since the enterprise operates on a 24/7 basis, the enterprise cloud provider should provide its customers with at least the minimum service level described in a clear and enforceable SLA.

Prioritize vendors offering:

  • 24/7 technical support with rapid response times

  • Dedicated account managers and cloud architects

  • Regular health checks and performance optimization guidance

  • Disaster recovery and backup options

  • Uptime guarantees (99.9% or higher)

Either way, if you are dealing with hybrid clouds, your support teams must have the chops for both, that is, managing an on-premises environment and cloud environment A, understood as cohesive-they should experience coherently.

Final Thoughts

Deciding on the right enterprise cloud platforms is hardly a comparison of checkboxes on the technical spec sheets. Rather, it should have strategic business considerations in mind. With digital transformation turning into a must-do activity, your cloud infrastructure should provide agility, capacity for innovation, and resilience for your business. Partnering with a reliable provider like Ishan Technologies can ensure your cloud journey is aligned with these goals. Contact us now.

Suppose you would want to get rid of an old legacy or stocks platform for a digital-native business platform from the ground up? In that case, you should be sure that your platform meets those six traits. And if you find yourself in the hybrid middle, never settle for anything less than hybrid cloud platform services that hold the greatest promise of security and control emanating from the private cloud, together with scalability and cost-effectiveness through a public cloud.

Invest wisely, scale confidently, and secure your future as an enterprise with the right cloud foundation.

View source: https://medium.com/@IshanTechnologies01/which-6-features-should-you-demand-in-an-enterprise-cloud-platform-5b6f2f4f1357

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Ishan Technologies
Ishan Technologies

Ishan Technologies is a trusted IT solutions provider offering enterprise connectivity, cloud, and managed services to power secure, scalable, and future-ready business infrastructure.