Hybrid Cloud

Why it matters

Few organisations run entirely in a single cloud. Critical applications live on-premises because they’ve been there for years. Sensitive workloads – those processing personal data, handling financial transactions or subject to strict data residency rules – need dedicated infrastructure or on-premises placement. Performance-sensitive applications can’t tolerate the latency of distant data centres. Yet public cloud still delivers real value for development, test, analytics and non-critical workloads. The problem is operating these separate islands independently – on-premises infrastructure managed differently from public cloud, different security models, different operational teams, different cost structures. This fragmentation creates operational complexity, prevents workload mobility and makes it impossible to balance cost and performance across the entire estate.

SCC delivers Hybrid Cloud platforms that operate your on-premises infrastructure, private cloud and public cloud as a single integrated environment. We implement unified operations, governance, security and cost controls across all environments so workloads move based on business requirements, not infrastructure constraints. Public Cloud services deliver scale and innovation. Private Cloud delivers dedicated performance and data residency for sensitive workloads. Sovereign Cloud keeps data within specific geographies for regulatory compliance. One operational model governs all three, transforming hybrid from an operational burden into a platform that serves diverse workload requirements cost-effectively.

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Move applications between public, private and on-premises cloud based on performance, security and cost requirements without operational disruption or re-architecting.

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One identity system, one cost model, one security policy, one operational team serving all three environments, eliminating the complexity of multiple isolated platforms.

Key features

Public Cloud capabilities and scale

Use public cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP) for workloads that benefit from elasticity, managed services and global scale. Development and test environments, analytics and big data workloads, and applications with variable demand run cost-effectively in public cloud. Public cloud infrastructure scales automatically with demand and integrates smoothly with hybrid platforms through standardised networking and identity.

Private Cloud for dedicated performance and data residency

Deploy private cloud infrastructure on-premises or in dedicated data centres for workloads requiring guaranteed performance, data residency within specific geographies, or isolation from shared infrastructure. Private cloud delivers the same APIs and operational experience as public cloud while maintaining physical and regulatory separation for sensitive workloads.

Sovereign Cloud for regulatory compliance

Meet data residency and sovereignty requirements using sovereign cloud deployments hosted in specific geographies with local governance. This enables global organisations to operate in regulated markets while keeping data within required boundaries. Sovereign cloud provides the same platform experience as public and private cloud environments.

Unified operations, identity and governance

All environments – public, private, on-premises, sovereign – integrate under unified identity and access management. One cost allocation model applies across all environments. One security policy governs all workloads regardless of where they run. Operational monitoring, alerting and incident response span all environments. This unified approach eliminates duplicate management overhead and makes hybrid cloud simple to operate.

How it works

Step 1

Assess workloads and cloud constraints

We inventory your workloads and assess which environment each should occupy – public cloud, private cloud, on-premises or sovereign cloud. Assessment considers performance requirements, security and data residency constraints, compliance obligations, licence models and cost implications. The result is a clear mapping of workloads to the appropriate cloud environments.

Step 2

Define hybrid cloud architecture

Based on assessment, we design your cloud platform infrastructure including networking, identity integration, cost visibility, security policies and compliance controls. We establish cost budgets and governance guardrails that enable teams to deploy without escalation while maintaining cost discipline and security visibility.

Step 3

Deploy hybrid cloud infrastructure

We provision public cloud infrastructure, establish private cloud resources and integrate on-premises infrastructure into the unified platform. This includes networking connectivity between environments, identity federation, storage synchronisation where needed and policy distribution. Integration testing ensures workloads operate consistently across environments.

Step 4

Implement unified operations

We establish unified monitoring, logging, cost allocation and governance controls across all environments. Teams gain a single operational view of their workloads regardless of where they run. Cost visibility shows which environments house which workloads and what they cost. Security policies enforce consistently across public, private and on-premises infrastructure.

Step 5

Continuously optimise and evolve

Once hybrid cloud is operational, we continuously monitor workload performance and cost across all environments. We identify optimisation opportunities – workloads that could move to different environments for cost or performance benefit, infrastructure that’s over-provisioned, or cloud-native practices that could improve efficiency. We help your teams evolve hybrid cloud architecture as business requirements and technology capability grow.

Insights and case studies

I use the term, ‘my Service Support Team’ because I don’t see them as SCC anymore, I see that family, that whole which is really important to me, as my teams, we work as one. Forget your badge or which company you work for, forget all of that, we’re on the same mission, we’re here together and we’re here to do a good job. Together.
Vic Sharma, Global Head of Service Operations, 10x

Partners

SCC’s hybrid cloud delivery brings together platform partnerships, infrastructure providers and operational tools that enable consistent, scalable hybrid operations.

Ready to unify fragmented cloud environments?

Hybrid cloud eliminates the operational burden of managing isolated public cloud, private cloud and on-premises infrastructure separately. Unified operations, cost visibility and governance enable workload decisions based on business value, not infrastructure constraints.

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FAQs

What is hybrid cloud and how is it different from having separate public and private cloud?

Hybrid cloud integrates public, private and on-premises infrastructure into a single operational platform with unified identity, governance, cost and management tools. This differs from separate public and private cloud deployments which operate independently with different teams, cost models and governance. True hybrid cloud allows workloads to move between environments transparently and balances cost, performance and security across the entire estate rather than optimising each environment in isolation.

Why would we maintain private cloud infrastructure within a hybrid cloud architecture?

Private cloud within hybrid cloud serves specific workloads that don’t fit public cloud – applications requiring guaranteed performance not available in shared public cloud infrastructure, workloads subject to data residency rules requiring on-premises or dedicated infrastructure, or legacy systems where refactoring cost exceeds benefit. Private cloud also provides control for sensitive workloads (financial, healthcare) where operational transparency and compliance are critical. Hybrid cloud makes private cloud cost-effective by sharing operational infrastructure and centralising governance.

What is sovereign cloud and how does it fit in a hybrid architecture?

Sovereign cloud is infrastructure hosted in specific geographies where data must remain for regulatory or compliance reasons. Examples include EU data residency rules or healthcare data that must stay within specific countries. Within hybrid cloud architecture, sovereign cloud provides a dedicated environment for workloads requiring geographic compliance while integrated into unified operations so workloads move between sovereign and other cloud environments as business requirements allow.

How do we connect on-premises infrastructure with public cloud in a hybrid architecture?

Connectivity depends on bandwidth and latency requirements. Dedicated network connections (AWS Direct Connect, Azure ExpressRoute) provide reliable, private networking between on-premises and public cloud. Virtual Private Network (VPN) connections provide encrypted connectivity over internet for smaller deployments or temporary connections. Hybrid cloud architecture defines connectivity requirements upfront so workloads that depend on low-latency communication are placed appropriately.

Doesn’t hybrid cloud complexity increase operational burden rather than reduce it?

Yes, if you simply add hybrid cloud infrastructure to separate public and private cloud operations. No, if you unify operations upfront – identity, monitoring, cost allocation, security policies and change management all span environments. With unified operations, managing three environments (public, private, on-premises) requires fewer operational staff than managing them separately because you eliminate duplicate management tools and processes. The complexity is front-loaded in the design phase; ongoing operations are simpler.