---
name: hybrid-workloads-about
title: Why use hybrid cloud with IBM?
description: 'With IBM®''s hybrid cloud computing solutions, deploy and manage your workloads across cloud and on-premises environments by using a single platform: IBM Cloud®. The underlying infrastructure of hybrid cloud services, whether it''s in the cloud or on-premises, remains consistent, which helps ensure that you can design, deploy, and manage workloads in the same way regardless of where they''re deployed.'
last-updated: 2024-09-19
---

> ## Documentation Index
> The table of contents for this documentation set is at https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/hybrid-workloads?format=markdown
> The index for all IBM Cloud docs is at: https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use these files to discover more information as needed.

# Why use hybrid cloud with IBM?
{: #about-hybrid}

With IBM®'s hybrid cloud computing solutions, deploy and manage your workloads across cloud and on-premises environments by using a single platform: IBM Cloud®. The underlying infrastructure of hybrid cloud services, whether it's in the cloud or on-premises, remains consistent, which helps ensure that you can design, deploy, and manage workloads in the same way regardless of where they're deployed.
{: shortdesc}

Choose the location of your cloud resources that best meets your needs, like a public cloud region, a private data center, or a Satellite location. Take advantage of IBM Cloud's scalability while you maintain control of critical workloads that might need to remain on-premises.

IBM offers managed on-premises hardware solutions that fully integrate with the IBM Cloud platform. Your organization can focus on your core business while IBM takes care of hardware installation and management.

## What is hybrid cloud?
{: #why-hybrid}

Hybrid cloud is a model that combines the use of public cloud services and on-premises infrastructure. The public cloud is hosted off-premises in IBM Cloud data center locations while on-premises infrastructure runs on site at your location.

A hybrid strategy gives you the flexibility to run workloads in the appropriate environment based on cost, performance, and regulatory requirements. For example, you might use a public cloud for variable workloads that require rapid scaling and run predictable workloads on-premises.


### On-premises
{: #on-prem}

On-premises refers to computing resources and infrastructure that are physically located within an organization's own facilities, such as a data center or servers, storage devices and networking hardware.

On-premises solutions are often used for critical applications, sensitive data, or in industries with strict compliance and regulatory requirements.

### Off-premises
{: #off-prem}

Off-premises refers to computing resources that are hosted and managed outside of an organization's physical location. This typically includes cloud services that are provided by a third-party like IBM Cloud.

Off-premises solutions are commonly used for web applications, storage, disaster recovery, and workloads that require elasticity and scalability.

## Core IBM Cloud services for hybrid environments
{: #services-hybrid}

IBM Power Virtual Server
:   Install and configure Power Virtual Server Private Cloud on-premises within your data center to support critical workloads with enterprise-level reliability. Deploy Power Virtual Server off-premises for scalable cloud resources. Managing deployments to any location is a unified experience on IBM Cloud.

IBM Cloud Satellite
:   Creating a Satellite location in your on-premises data center extends IBM Cloud services to on-premises environments. This management layer allows organizations to run and manage cloud services consistently across any location.

IBM Cloud Direct Link
:   A high-speed and secure connectivity between on-premises data centers and IBM Cloud.


![A diagram that shows the components of a basic hybrid infrastructure that uses Power Virtual Server Private Cloud ina client location and Power Virtual Server on IBM Cloud.](images/test_hybrid_arch_drawing.svg){: caption="A diagram that shows the components of a basic hybrid infrastructure" caption-side="bottom"}

Your on-premises data center and IBM Cloud connect through IBM Cloud Direct Link, helping ensure secure and high-speed data transfer. IBM Cloud Satellite provides a single management interface to oversee both on-premises and cloud resources, helping ensure unified operations. With Power Virtual Server Private Cloud, you have dedicated IBM® Power Systems Hardware in your data center that integrates with IBM Cloud services.