In this scenario the hybrid IT approach makes sense to IT managers and CIOs alike. The future looks set to be what Capgemini call an 'orchestrated' approach to the cloud landscape, and not a wholesale move to these systems simply because of the IT legacy that most business currently need to manage.
New business platforms
The delivery and maintenance of IT functions will involve the use of more hybrid systems. The fragmentation of cloud services across a plethora of vendors, the continued development of 'bring your own device' plus the overall consumerisation of business technology opens new opportunities.
IT managers need to ask a number of questions to enable them to build a hybrid IT system fit for their businesses:
1.Can the cloud offer real world advantages for some business processes?
2.What does your business's data access map look like? Is the client-server platform still cost-effective?
3.Is customer security compliance still possible with a cloud based platform? Could a hybrid IT approach offer much stronger security systems?
4.Will outsourcing produce the level of cost reduction without negatively impacting the customer experience?
5.Are there any data bottlenecks in your business that a hybrid IT approach could resolve?
6.What are your business's current IT risk factors? Would a hybrid approach to IT improve these?
The answers to these questions will lay the ground for a step forward in IT management. Gartner's Chris Howard concluded: "Hybrid IT is the new IT and it is here to stay.
"While the cloud market matures, IT organisations must adopt a hybrid IT strategy that not only builds internal clouds to house critical IT services and compete with public cloud service providers, but also utilises the external cloud to house non-critical IT services and data, augment internal capacity, and increase IT agility.
"Hybrid IT creates symmetry between internal and external IT services that will force an IT and business paradigm shift for years to come."
2013 looks set to become the year where hybrid IT becomes a mainstream option for companies that will continue to develop their use of cloud based services, yet also maintain their traditional systems. Today, IT means melding software-, infrastructure- and platform-as-a-service together into a hybrid system that fits your business's particular goals.
