The public cloud is typically hosted by third-party providers like AWS, Google Cloud or Microsoft Azure. These environments are often more cost-effective, and less secure but have great shared resources and are scalable.
A private cloud is a dedicated cloud environment that is solely for your organization alone. These private clouds provide your organization with more control and security. This type of cloud is essential for any company with strict regulatory requirements or organizations that want to keep information locked down.
There is no need to pick just one of these cloud types. Your organization can leverage both. Utilize a public cloud for non-sensitive data and easier scalability. The private cloud can then be used for all your sensitive data.
Each of these options has advantages, depending on your needs for security, cost and flexibility.
