Understanding the hybrid cloud landscape

Adopting multiple cloud platforms has created increasingly complex issues for enterprises in every industry. And with more than 97% of enterprises operating on more than one cloud, it’s even more important to understand how to meet the common complexities associated with hybrid cloud.

What exactly is hybrid cloud? Hybrid cloud refers to the mix of cloud environments running the various operations of your business. Whether operating on public, private, multi-cloud or on-premise infrastructure, your company is likely running multiple clouds at once. The average enterprise is expected to have 10 clouds by 2023.

As a result, your organization may have adopted a hybrid cloud platform, integrating your various clouds and providing some level of orchestration, management and portability among the applications. But you may still wonder how you can best leverage your hybrid cloud platform to transform your business and achieve maximum value for your organization.

Connect with IBM consultants to take your first step toward hybrid cloud mastery

The key to your business transformation

Mastering hybrid cloud has become a central driver of business transformation and innovation. According to another recent IBM study, the estimated value of hybrid cloud investments multiplies up to 13x, on average, when combined with other levers of transformation. For some industries, the value multiplies as high as 20x.

Therefore, mastering hybrid cloud is key for you to realize the full business value of your hybrid cloud. A hybrid cloud platform can enable you to innovate anywhere with anyone’s technology. But with so many clouds performing multiple functions across your enterprise, adopting an integrated plan is easier said than done.

So, how do you move from managing a mix of hybrid cloud environments to creating business value by mastering hybrid cloud, tackling challenges along the way? First, you must start with a clear and compelling hybrid cloud vision integrated alongside your business goals.

Maximize your business value with hybrid cloud mastery

The economic value of today’s businesses is heavily driven by the ability to run marketplace experiments very quickly using data, software, and platforms. A well-mastered hybrid cloud platform can make this rapid-cycle innovation much more flexible, dramatically faster, more productive and less expensive, while making data accessible to more innovators inside your enterprise.

No matter the mix of cloud environments your enterprise has adopted, there are 4 levers of value to achieve through hybrid cloud mastery.

1. Build applications once, deploy them anywhere
2. Manage applications once, host them anywhere
3. Skill once, deploy them anywhere
4. Innovate anywhere, with anyone’s technology

A hybrid cloud approach yields 2.5x more value than the use of a single public cloud alone. To achieve hybrid cloud mastery and realize the full business value of this approach, you must understand the most common challenges your enterprise may encounter, develop a preemptive strategy and create an integrated plan to overcome them.

Common challenges to hybrid cloud mastery

As enterprises operate more cloud platforms, they face more technical complexity, higher costs and other challenges that could derail their processes. The recent IBM Institute of Business Value report Mastering Hybrid Cloud describes common challenges enterprises face across business functions during their journey to mastering hybrid cloud.

But these challenges are not insurmountable, and no matter where you are in your hybrid cloud journey, you have an opportunity to redirect and transform your operations. You can adjust and change course to capture the full value of hybrid cloud and unlock the vast benefits it contributes to business technologies in areas such as AI, blockchain and quantum computing. Each challenge can be overcome by creating balance between your roadmap for building hybrid cloud capabilities and your roadmap for business success. By aligning and implementing these roadmaps simultaneously, you will be equipped with the tools needed to lead innovation and transform your business with hybrid cloud at its foundation.

Learn how to reach hybrid cloud mastery in the report, Mastering Hybrid Cloud