Cloud control: why go hybrid?

Seven roundtables, 35 senior IT executives, 630 minutes of conversation about cloud… and one vital question: why go hybrid? This is what our panellists said.
 

hy·brid noun \ˈhī-brəd\

Something that is formed by combining two or more things

I like to think I was raised a polite chap, so it feels wrong to speak for other people. In this case, however, in answering this particular question, I am happy to make an exception because our senior executive roundtables have been (almost) unanimous…

Why hybrid? 94% said: the flexibility of cloud, the security of our walls.

Under flexibility I file an impressive set of benefits that have been seen in pilot projects and are now being sung about across the enterprise: agility, cost efficiency, scaleability (or burstability, or the ability to spin up quickly), faster time-to-market, and always being on the latest version, everywhere and for everyone, using SaaS.

Under security I file nervousness and regulation. I don’t mean the former to be flippant. Senior IT cares deeply. Asked if cloud meant they were acting more as brokers to the business, 35 CIOs and VPs spoke as one: we do require new skills in the team, especially around vendor and contract management, but when it comes to responsibility, the song remains the same – we don’t just broker deals, we sort integration and security and… the list goes on.

They will not let core data out, despite accepting that public cloud providers may spend more on security (‘budget, yes, the same care and attention to our data, no’). And they are welded to regulation, if frustrated that regulators are neither cutting edge nor consistent.

Unmoveable and irresistible, this combination of carrot and stick makes for a powerful argument. Salvatore Pulvirenti, CIO for Italian telecommunications leader Tiscali, is unequivocal: “The future is hybrid.” 94% of his peers agree.

What about the 6%?

Two executives stood apart from the 33. For them the way forward is public cloud, and it should be embraced Martini-style: anytime, anyplace, anywhere.

• Both worked in industries with ‘light-touch’ regulation but held significant amounts of sensitive data that, if breached, would pose a serious reputational (and potentially legal) risk.

• Both felt a pinch on resources and wanted to lose “tin admin” to focus on IT that makes “a real difference to the business”.

More information

The findings from our roundtables are now available in a short ebook all about hybrid cloud. Click here to download the ebook, produced in association with HP.

Click here to download our first ebook, The Journey to Cloud.

Click here to register your interest in sitting on a roundtable about cloud computing