Cloud computing has revolutionized the way companies manage their technological infrastructure, offering scalability, flexibility, and on-demand resource access. However, one of the biggest challenges today is the high cost associated with cloud services, especially for companies that require large amounts of resources—such as cinfo, where we develop automated event production and live streaming solutions.
To tackle this challenge, we at cinfo have developed a hybrid computing strategy that allows us to optimize resources and reduce costs without compromising performance. In this post, we will explore how this system works and the benefits it offers.
The Challenge of Cloud Costs
The exponential growth of cloud services has led many companies to become fully dependent on cloud environments. However, this dependence can be costly, as cloud providers charge based on resource usage, often resulting in significant overspending when not managed efficiently.
Additionally, many organizations overprovision their resources to prevent capacity issues during peak demand periods. This leads to infrastructure waste and unnecessary expenses.
In our case, developing live streaming and automated event production solutions means dealing with highly variable and sometimes extreme cloud resource demands. We needed an alternative that would help us balance performance with cost efficiency.
Our Solution: A Hybrid Computing System
To maximize efficiency and reduce costs, we developed a hybrid computing orchestration system that seamlessly integrates on-premise infrastructure with cloud services.
How does it work?
🔹 Dynamic resource catalog: Monitors real-time availability of local and cloud infrastructure, enabling efficient capacity allocation.
🔹 Automated resource management: Dynamically reserves, releases, and reallocates capacity to match real-time demand.
🔹 Algorithm-based optimization: A decision-making engine selects the best option between on-premise and cloud resources, achieving the optimal balance between performance and cost.
This approach allows us to maximize our on-premise infrastructure and only use cloud resources when absolutely necessary, avoiding unnecessary expenses.
Key Benefits of Our Hybrid Strategy
✅ Significant cost savings: By reducing cloud dependency, we optimize infrastructure spending.
✅ Lower carbon footprint: Minimizing cloud overprovisioning contributes to more efficient energy use.
✅ Greater control and flexibility: Hybrid management enables real-time adaptation of resources based on demand.
✅ Advanced technology integration: We leverage High-Performance Computing (HPC) concepts, including concurrency, parallelism, and message passing, using Erlang to ensure reliability in distributed systems.
Recognition for Our Development
This system, developed entirely in-house at cinfo, was nominated for the 2024 Best Master’s Thesis Award and, while it didn’t win, it received a special mention for its innovation and real-world applicability.
We are proud of this achievement and continue to improve our solutions to offer more efficient, sustainable, and cost-effective infrastructure.
Conclusion
Cloud computing is essential for many businesses, but inefficient use can lead to high costs. Adopting a hybrid strategy, like the one we implemented at cinfo, allows companies to optimize resources, reduce expenses, and minimize environmental impact—without sacrificing operational capacity.
In a world where efficiency and sustainability are key, combining on-premise and cloud resources is a smart alternative for any business looking to enhance its technological management.
💬 Has your company implemented a hybrid strategy to optimize cloud usage? Let us know in the comments!