Hybrid IT

What's the best way to store IT resources? Businesses have had to consider this question for years. Early on the solution was to store everything on the company infrastructure. After a while, however, this strategy proved taxing and costs were rather steep. The next venture was cloud-based services, but it exhibited capacity issues as well as other concerns. The approaches may not have been so successful on their own, but there's another possibility. What if they were combined? This is the basis of Hybrid IT.

By now, it's probably safe to assume that most everyone has heard of the Hybrid Cloud and it's ability to meld two clouds via cloud service brokerage. Hybrid IT relies on this ability -particularly the Infrastructure-based Hybrid Cloud described by Gartner - for the ability to store non-critical IT services on external cloud services while allowing for the more critical services to be stored internally. How is this possible? Internal resources are augmented by software which connects the back end of internal services to external cloud services. In addition, the ability to access multiple cloud resources is also included.

Why is this important? Managing data and preventing it from running a muck is a must for any business. Likewise, given the cost cutting features of of cloud-based applications, it makes sense to combine everything. Furthermore, because resources can be allocated and handled more efficiently, it stands to reason that IT departments will be able to meet the challenges of constantly changing business needs. In addition, there are multiple other benefits which include enhanced agility, architectural integrity and easy deployment of a range of integration and data solutions.

Why isn't Hybrid IT seen more often? Demand for the features of this service has been high, but Hybrid IT is still a fairly new idea where adoption and implementation are concerned. Why the resistance? The concept is still immature and much more complex than homogeneous IT. It's a matter of not wanting to take risks where unknowns are involved. Nevertheless, keep in mind that the risk factors don't necessarily outweigh the benefits. There's a lot of potential stored up. Moreover, while Hybrid IT might not be the right choice for some, it hasn't stopped others from experiencing the benefits. 

In the end, Hybrid IT works to enable businesses through processes and services that already exist today. Above all else, it's about making things more manageable and usable by the user, while also addressing important business issues. Furthermore, with government agencies predicted to lead the way toward adoption and integration of Hybrid strategies, it's hard to imagine that most organizations will be able to avoid Hybrid IT for long.