We’ve spoken a lot here about the advantages of the hybrid cloud and how the companies that have adopted it so far have seen some tremendous benefits in everything from cost to efficiency. It was great to see that sentiment echoed in a recent article by Data Center Knowledge, quoting a survey finding that “…70 percent of respondents were using or evaluating a hybrid cloud solution.”
70 percent – that sure sounds like the hybrid cloud approach has won the hearts and minds of IT executives everywhere, doesn’t it?
The article says that currently the two most popular reasons why companies have turned to the hybrid cloud approach are “cost efficiency and business agility.” Those reasons definitely resonate with what we’ve seen here at the Markley Group from our cloud computing clients. Executives today (as always, it seems) need to do more with less. That means stretching your budget and using every dime as efficiently as possible.
In addition, today’s businesses need to be able to pivot at a moment’s notice. It could be a shift from one industry or market to another, or it could be adding more capacity and users as popularity rises – or subtracting that extra bandwidth as capacity needs fall, preventing you from paying for what you’re not using. The hybrid cloud structure is perfect for today’s businesses.
Another interesting point in the piece is the point that there are several successful companies that have seen their budgets increase with increased staff. In years past, that meant an expansion of the IT department – and an expansion of what was done on-site at the company.
But this is no longer the case.
Companies today don’t rush out and start their own data center just because their budgets increased. The IT executives of today understand how critical the hybrid cloud has been to their company’s success – enabling the very pivoting and increases or decreases described above. There’s no reason to over-spend on IIT infrastructure – instead, use your team’s time and knowledge to expand company offerings or to improve its products. As the article states: “…instead of over-buying or over-provisioning your on-premise IT resources and running them at very low levels of utilization most of the time, you turn to the cloud to access extra capacity when you need it. And you pay for only what you use and when you use it. That’s cost efficiency.”
Indeed. The hybrid cloud has proven to be the way to go – both for companies starting out, and those that become successful. Looks like it will remain hot here for quite a while.
