What's essential for a hybrid cloud

Attributed to DP van Leeuwen, senior vice president and general manager, Red Hat Asia Pacific

Enterprises across Asia Pacific are increasing focused on web-scale cloud systems and other innovation on the 3rd Platform to enable new business capabilities, stated IDC Asia Pacific in their latest forecast for the coming year . The top 10 ICT predictions from IDC also noted that "mash-ups of Cloud, Social Business, Big Data Analytics and Mobile will continue to come together at a more intensified rate of adoption in 2015." IT spending growth for the rest of the 2014-2018 forecast period is also expected to climb upwards to 6.4% in 2017.

With these predictions in mind, choosing how to build and what kind of cloud an organization needs now is perhaps the most strategic decision IT leaders will need to make right now to tap on present opportunities. If done right, a cloud can deliver strategic advantages to the business by redirecting resources from lights-on to innovation. But in my view only an open hybrid cloud delivers the full strategic business value and promise of cloud computing.

Why use an open hybrid cloud?

Hybrid clouds offer an array of benefits for organizations, including cost-effective deployment, flexible storage capacity and scalable computing. In addition, organizations can rely on several vendors, helping to free them from single vendor lock-in.

A hybrid cloud is essentially an environment that uses both public and private cloud technologies, taking advantage of different aspects of both to create a strong cloud environment.

Given the advantages, IT leaders within enterprises are turning to alternative providers to supply the necessary technologies for a heterogeneous cloud environment.

A recent survey by Tech Pro Research found that 93% of respondents have heard of hybrid cloud and out of this group, one-third said they have already implemented a hybrid cloud solution in their organizations . The report further stated that, "many small organizations don't have the existing hardware infrastructure needed for the on-premise part of a hybrid solution." Results reflected customer sentiments of wanting flexibility, without locking in to one single vendor or legacy systems, that may restrict potential business growth.

Hybrid cloud market growth

According to Research and Market's "Global Hybrid Cloud Market 2014 - 2018" findings, the global hybrid cloud market is expected to grow at a five year compound annual growth rate of 30% from 2014 to 2018. One of the key drivers for hybrid cloud adoption was the need for companies to reduce IT spending. "The hybrid cloud provides IT infrastructure and application support to enterprises at lower cost than internal provisioning. Therefore, with the adoption of hybrid cloud services, enterprises are reducing their capital and operational expenditure on IT infrastructure," Research and Markets stated.

Managing a heterogeneous cloud environment

When managing a heterogeneous cloud environment, one where private and public cloud technologies are in use, security and performance are key factors.

These were noted as priorities in the IDG survey, which also found the ability to deploy and manage applications a necessity, as well as easy integration with tools and software.

The key to effectively managing these environments could lie within an open approach, one where multiple vendors are utilized. Single vendor strategies could face a higher risk of failure, given the reliance on one set of services.

Enterprises that prioritize security, support and performance will likely continue to adopt hybrid cloud approaches over the next few years, as opposed to the more traditional public and private approaches.

Hybrid implementations certainly yield a significant number of benefits for organizations willing to adopt the approach.

Learn how Red Hat and Intel can help you plan your hybrid cloud strategy for 2015 with this IDC technology spotlight whitepaper.

1. _{IDC, "2015 Will Be Year of Accelerating Innovation on 3rd Platform; Asia to Focus on Automated Workflows, Web-Scale Cloud Systems, Personal Digital Experiences and Branded Internet of Things: IDC", Nov 2014, http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prSG252...}
2. _{ZDNet, "Research: 70 percent using or evaluating a hybrid cloud solution", July 2014, https://www.zdnet.com/research-70-percent-using-or...}
3. _{Business Wire, "Research and Markets: Global Hybrid Cloud Market 2014-2018: Market Will Grow at a CAGR of 30%", July 2014, https://www.zdnet.com/research-70-percent-using-or...arket-2014-2018#.VHQro4eN5m9}