7 Reasons Hybrid IT is a Winning Strategy | IT Solutions

Hybrid IT infrastructure that combines on-premises and public cloud capabilities is a strategy many enterprises are embracing to maximize flexibility and performance. In fact, Rightscale’s fifth annual State of the Cloud Survey finds that nearly three-quarters of today’s enterprises are using a hybrid infrastructure — the study indicates that the adoption rates have increased from 58% in 2015 to 71% in 2016.

But how do you know if hybrid is right for you?

It used to be that enterprises fell into two distinct camps when it came to cloud computing. One camp valued the scalability and agility inherent in the public cloud while the other avoided the cloud, instead focusing on the control, security, and stability inherent in private IT infrastructure.

Today, more enterprises are realizing the cloud is no longer an either/or choice. With hybrid cloud, they can get the best of both worlds and ensure their IT infrastructure closely aligns with the needs of their business.

As more organizations consider a hybrid IT strategy they should keep seven key factors in mind.

1. Better control over Shadow IT. Many times, line-of-business (LOB) managers and end users with pressing business needs are unwilling to wait for internal IT and instead look to public cloud vendors to provide new applications and services. Referred to as Shadow IT, this type of environment is usually the first step toward a hybrid environment. Acknowledging its existence and bringing it under centralized IT management ensures the business sees IT as a valued service provider and not a hindrance.
2. Manage swings in app demand and performance. Organizations with highly-dynamic applications that spike unexpectedly in demand and usage can easily and cost-effectively use the public cloud to spin up new resources and scale to support peak loads, then scale back down to on-premises once demand drops.
3. Ease app development and test. Rather than replicating the production environment on-premises for testing, organizations are leveraging the cloud for quick iterations and rapid development, then running apps on-premises only when they are production-ready.
4. Handle varied workloads. Organizations often find it more cost-effective and secure to run the front-end interfaces for large public-facing applications in the public cloud, while supporting the back-end services (and critical data) for those on-premises, where they have better control and security.
5. Support varied user bases. As more enterprises support both on-premises and mobile workforces, they find a mix of cloud and traditional IT solutions work best, as they can provide the ultimate in mobile access via public cloud services, while keeping users of more performance-intensive, sensitive or compliance-oriented applications on-premises.
6. Meet workload demands. Hybrid infrastructure forces enterprises to re-evaluate their network to ensure it can support the demands of workloads that are constantly shifting from on-premises to the cloud and back again.
7. Manage hybrid environment. With hybrid IT, administrative tools must be able to manage both cloud and on-premises assets, using the same set of security, user and application policies.

What is your cloud strategy? Whether it’s public, private or hybrid, OneNeck IT Solutions can help ensure your IT infrastructure is optimized to support your business needs. Schedule a cloud assessment today.