What is a hybrid cloud?

A hybrid cloud is defined as a combination of at least two computing environments, typically comprising both private and public clouds, that are integrated to share information and data. This integration allows organizations to move workloads between different cloud environments as needed, providing greater flexibility and deployment options.

With a hybrid cloud approach, businesses can take advantage of the scalability and potential cost savings of public clouds while maintaining sensitive data on private clouds for enhanced security and compliance. This model is particularly useful for companies that require the agility and scalability of cloud services while still needing a private environment for certain sensitive information or applications.

Other definitions, such as a purely private cloud solution or an exclusively public cloud service model, do not capture the essence of a hybrid cloud, which is the collaborative aspect of utilizing multiple cloud environments. Additionally, a combination of cloud environments that do not share information would not meet the criteria of a hybrid cloud, as the key attribute is the ability to share and integrate data across different platforms.