Backend functionality is made up of data-intensive processing and data storage with varying workloads is hosted in an elastic cloud while all other components reside in a static data center. A distributed application provides processing with different workload behaviors. Support for a mainly static workload needs to available, but some processing components experience periodic, unpredictable, or continuously changing workloads. Application components that have varying workloads should be in an elastic environment. These components, however, need to access large amounts of data during execution making them very dependent on availability and timely access to data. The processing components with varying workloads are in an elastic cloud together with the data accessed during operation. Asynchronous messages exchanged from the static environment are used to trigger the processing components in the elastic cloud through via message-oriented middleware message queues. A static environment data access component ensures that data required by elastic processing components is in storage offerings The data location may then be passed to the elastic processing components via messages. Data not required by the backend functionality may still be stored in stateful components in the static data center.