Driven by the need for faster digital transformation, hybrid IT estates have become the norm, with the most successful customers opting for a “right workload for the right cloud platform” approach.
But this is also creating new types of complexity, with the risk of vendor lock-in highlighted in the results of a new study, “Where is Hybrid Heading? Views on exploiting multi-modal IT”, conducted among 400 IT decision-makers in eight countries by research firm Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC) on behalf of Fujitsu.
Sourcing flexibility – which helps avoid vendor lock-in by diversifying supply chains – has risen to become the most important consideration for hybrid IT adoption, rated as “business critical” or of “high importance” by some 80% of respondents. In a market where more than half (55%) of all organizations with hybrid IT are already mostly cloud-based, sourcing flexibility is also key, as cited by 86%.
The need to achieve transformational change more quickly becomes obvious when considering that three quarters of organisations rate the ability for their IT to respond quickly to events as either “business critical” or “highly important”. Greater agility is also clearly more than hype, with 79% confirming this as a benefit of hybrid IT adoption, as a response to competitive pressure where IT systems cannot be allowed to hold back digital transformation programs.
This emphasis on speed of response also helps explain why 63%of hybrid IT users in the survey regard faster delivery and more reliable business outcomes as the most compelling reason to partner with a service provider for cloud and traditional IT delivery. Findings also highlight that integration and orchestration is the biggest barrier facing organisations looking to build, connect and optimize hybrid IT environments, with just under half (48%) of all respondents indicating that it is a major challenge and only one in ten (10%) not having any problems with integration and orchestration.
While other studies have found a clear tendency for enterprises to move towards multiple cloud adoption, PAC’s report finds a marked disinclination to take on management of multiple similar clouds. Some 90% of respondents in the transport and public sectors prefer to have consolidated management from a single supplier for each type of cloud. Overall across all vertical markets, between two-thirds and three-quarters of respondents plan to appoint a single supplier for each type of cloud, with an overall average of 76%.
Mark Phillips, head of digital pursuits at Fujitsu EMEIA, says: “Now that cloud has become mainstream, it’s no longer a land grab and organizations have become a lot more selective when it comes to deploying cloud services.
“On the one hand they are alert to a new risk of vendor lock-in and have come up with viable strategies to off-set this. On the other hand, they are convinced that cloud really does give them the ability to respond to the pressures of disruption and see partnering with leading global systems integrators like Fujitsu as the best way to speed up and de-risk cloud adoption and management. This is particularly the case with integration and orchestration, which they see as the biggest hurdle to jump.”