What Is Public Cloud and Why Indian Enterprises Are Adopting It at Record Speed

When Flipkart handles 1.5 billion visits during its Big Billion Days sale, or when Zomato processes millions of food orders simultaneously, they’re not running massive server farms in their offices. They’re tapping into what is public cloud, shared computing resources that scale instantly based on demand. Indian enterprises spent ₹15,000 crores on public cloud services in 2023, and that figure will double by 2026.

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But here’s what makes this shift fascinating: companies aren’t just renting servers anymore. They’re accessing entire technology stacks, from databases and storage to artificial intelligence platforms, without buying a single piece of hardware. The public cloud example of a Mumbai startup launching a nationwide service overnight, or a Bengaluru firm analysing petabytes of data without building a data centre, shows why traditional IT infrastructure is becoming obsolete.

This article examines the architecture behind public cloud computing, breaks down why enterprises from banking to e-commerce are migrating their workloads, explores specific use cases across industries, and addresses the security concerns that keep CIOs awake at night. We’ll also compare public cloud with private and hybrid models to help you determine the right approach for your organisation.

Understanding What Is Public Cloud Architecture

What is public cloud at its technical foundation? Think of it as a massive, shared computing facility where thousands of organisations rent processing power, storage, and software services from providers who manage the underlying infrastructure. Unlike your company’s private servers, these resources exist in the provider’s data centres and connect through the internet.

The architecture operates on multi-tenancy principles. Your applications run on the same physical servers as other companies’ workloads, but sophisticated virtualisation technology creates logical separation. Each customer gets isolated compute instances, dedicated storage allocations, and secure network segments. IBM defines it precisely: computing resources made available over the public internet on a pay-per-use basis by third-party providers.

Here’s how the infrastructure layers stack up:

The magic happens through APIs and automation. You provision a 64-core server with 256 GB RAM in seconds through a web portal. Need more storage? Add 10 TB instantly. Traffic spike coming? Auto-scaling policies spin up additional instances automatically. This elasticity fundamentally changes how enterprises approach capacity planning.

Core Business Drivers Behind Enterprise Public Cloud Adoption

Traditional IT procurement meant writing cheques for ₹50 lakhs for servers you’d use for five years, whether you needed full capacity or not. What is public cloud doing differently? Converting those capital expenses into operating expenses. You pay ₹50,000 monthly for compute resources, scaling up during peak seasons and down during quiet periods.

From CapEx to OpEx: The Financial Transformation

Sify’s research shows enterprises save 30-40% on infrastructure costs through this model. A public cloud example from retail: fashion brands provision extra capacity for festive sales, then release it afterwards. They avoid maintaining idle hardware for 10 months while competitors struggle with server rooms gathering dust.

The financial benefits extend beyond raw infrastructure savings:

• Zero upfront hardware investments

• Predictable monthly billing based on actual usage

• Reserved instance discounts for steady workloads (up to 72% off on-demand prices)

• Spot instances for batch processing at 90% discounts

• Transparent cost allocation per department or project

Speed and Agility: Launching Products in Days, Not Months

Remember when launching a new application meant three-month procurement cycles? What is public cloud enabling now takes days or hours. Developers spin up test environments before lunch, run experiments, and tear everything down by evening. This velocity transforms how businesses compete.

A fintech startup needs to test a new payment gateway. Instead of buying servers, installing databases, and configuring networks, they provision everything through Azure in 30 minutes. The public cloud example becomes more compelling when they discover the idea won’t work, they’ve spent ₹5,000 testing instead of ₹5 lakhs on hardware they’d never use.

AWS emphasises this time-to-market advantage: providers handle infrastructure maintenance, patching, and upgrades while your teams focus on building products. Indian enterprises report 70% faster deployment times after cloud migration.

Global Scale Without Global Infrastructure

Operating in Singapore, Dubai, and London traditionally meant data centres in each location. What does public cloud offer instead? Instant global presence through providers’ worldwide infrastructure. Deploy applications in 25 regions simultaneously without leaving your Mumbai office.

Major providers operate massive global networks:

• AWS: 33 regions with 105 availability zones

• Azure: 60+ regions across 140 countries

• Google Cloud: 37 regions with 112 zones

This geographic distribution solves multiple challenges. Compliance requirements demand that data stay within India? Choose Mumbai or Hyderabad regions. Need low latency for Southeast Asian customers? Deploy in Singapore. A public cloud example from e-learning: DIKSHA serves 35 crore Indian students through strategically placed cloud resources, ensuring sub-100ms response times nationwide.

Technical Capabilities Driving What Public Cloud Adoption Is

Static infrastructure can’t handle modern traffic patterns. Monday morning might bring 100 users, but a viral social media post could drive 100,000 visitors by afternoon. What is the public cloud providing here? Let’s find out:

Elasticity and Auto-Scaling in Practice

Auto-scaling works through defined policies. Set CPU utilisation thresholds at 70%, and new instances launch automatically when traffic increases. Configure schedule-based scaling for predictable patterns, add capacity at 9 AM when employees log in, and reduce at 7 PM when they leave. The public cloud example of e-commerce platforms handling flash sales demonstrates this perfectly: infrastructure expands 10x in minutes, then contracts when sales end.

Consider these scaling mechanisms:

Vertical Scaling: Upgrade instance types on-the-fly

• Start with 2 vCPUs, 4 GB RAM

• Burst to 16 vCPUs, 64 GB RAM during processing

• Return to baseline after job completion

Horizontal Scaling: Add/remove instances dynamically

• Normal operations: 3 web servers

• Traffic spike: Scale to 50 servers

• A load balancer distributes requests evenly

Managed Services: Focus on Code, Not Infrastructure

Database administration consumed 40% of IT time in traditional setups. Public cloud platforms offer managed database services where providers handle backups, patches, replication, and failover. Your DBAs now optimise queries instead of replacing failed drives at 2 AM.

The breadth of managed services transforms operations:

A public cloud example from banking: HDFC Bank runs critical workloads on managed services, reducing operational overhead by 60% while improving reliability through automated failover and backup systems.

Security, Compliance and Governance Considerations

Security concerns once blocked cloud adoption, but what does public cloud security really involve? A shared responsibility model where providers secure the infrastructure while you protect your applications and data. Think of it like renting an apartment; the building owner maintains locks and security guards, but you’re responsible for locking your door.

Providers invest billions in security:

• 24/7 security operations centres

• DDoS protection at network edges

• Hardware security modules for encryption keys

• Regular third-party audits and certifications

• Physical security with biometric access controls

Your responsibilities include:

• Configuring firewall rules correctly

• Managing user access and permissions

• Encrypting sensitive data

• Patching applications and guest operating systems

• Implementing proper network segmentation

Meeting Indian Regulatory Requirements

Data localisation laws require financial and healthcare data to remain within India. Public cloud providers address this through local regions and availability zones. A public cloud example: payment companies use Mumbai regions exclusively, ensuring transaction data never leaves Indian borders while maintaining cloud benefits.

Compliance certifications matter for regulated industries:

• RBI Guidelines: Separate regions for financial data

• IRDAI Requirements: Insurance data within India

• Personal Data Protection: User consent and data minimisation

• IT Act Compliance: Reasonable security practices

Making the Strategic Choice

What public cloud ultimately represents is a fundamental shift in how enterprises consume technology. You’re trading ownership for access, fixed costs for variable spending, and slow procurement for instant provisioning. The question isn’t whether to adopt public cloud anymore; it’s how quickly you can migrate without disrupting operations.

Consider your workload characteristics. Unpredictable traffic patterns, seasonal variations, and experimental projects thrive on public cloud elasticity. Mission-critical systems requiring microsecond latency might need hybrid approaches. The public cloud example across industries shows no one-size-fits-all answer.

For Indian enterprises seeking sovereign cloud solutions with local support, Airtel Public Cloud delivers telco-grade infrastructure purpose-built for Indian requirements, combining global cloud capabilities with domestic data residency and compliance. With sub-60-second VM deployment and integrated connectivity from India’s largest B2B network provider, it addresses the unique needs of Indian businesses requiring both cloud agility and regulatory compliance.