A large multinational organization often faces the challenge of managing data differently across regions, laws, and business needs. In some scenarios, a company prefers to be served by a public cloud for flexibility and scale, while still hosting critical data on its own network at headquarters for control and latency reasons. In other instances, it makes sense to leverage a different public cloud provider or even deploy a private cloud to address local requirements. The common goal is to avoid duplicating data or juggling disparate tools for every data warehouse. This is where the concept of hybrid cloud shines. NetApp addresses this challenge with the Data Fabric, a data architecture designed to harmonize connections among diverse data sources and environments, enabling seamless data movement and management across clouds, private infrastructures, and on‑premises systems. The essence of this approach is not just technology; it revolves around how data is governed, accessed, and utilized to support business objectives. The decision about how, in what form, and for what purposes data is used rests with corporate leadership, not solely with the IT or technology teams.
Can working with foreign clouds be both agile and secure?
Find out how organizations are balancing speed and safety while extending data access across borders, ensuring compliance, and preserving governance as they tap into global cloud ecosystems.
CESAR CERNUDA
NetApp World President
The modern data landscape often spans multiple countries, regulatory regimes, and business units. An enterprise seeking agility must design a data framework that treats data as a strategic asset rather than a collection of isolated silos. Hybrid cloud architectures provide this capability by enabling consistent data policies, security controls, and lineage tracking across on‑premises platforms, public clouds, and private cloud deployments. At the core of this model lies a governance-first mindset: clear ownership, standardized metadata, and unified data services that work across environments. For large organizations, this approach reduces duplication, lowers cost, and speeds up analytics and decision making. It also supports compliance with regional data residency requirements by allowing sensitive data to remain within designated territories while still participating in a global analytics workflow. In practice, a data fabric unifies storage, data management, and access controls, so teams can use the best tool for the job without sacrificing consistency or security. This results in a more resilient IT landscape where data can be discovered, governed, and utilized efficiently, no matter where it resides.
Adopting a hybrid cloud strategy is not just a technical decision; it is a strategic business choice. It requires a clear data strategy aligned with corporate goals, an understanding of regulatory constraints across the United States and Canada, and a culture that values data as a shared resource. Executives should champion this approach, articulating how data will be curated, who can access it, and how its quality will be maintained. When governance and architecture are designed with the end user in mind, data becomes more than a repository. It becomes a powerful driver of insights, innovation, and competitive advantage that can scale with the company as it grows and enters new markets. In this way, hybrid cloud and data fabric initiatives support not just IT efficiency but strategic business outcomes across North America and beyond.