Report-of-hybridcloud-2017
- 1. State of the Hybrid Cloud 2017State of the Hybrid Cloud 2017 Understanding Hybrid Cloud in 2017 Over the past several years, hybrid cloud has been a consistent topic of interest in our discussions with enterprise customers. The notion of hybrid cloud has been around in the industry for a while now. But we’ve long had the sense that people think about and approach hybrid cloud in different ways. Despite this, organizations have moved ahead with hybrid cloud strategies, looking to achieve the benefits of cloud computing while also continuing to get value from their existing on-premises resources. With the explosive growth of cloud, particularly at commercial companies, we felt it was time for a definitive study on hybrid cloud. We found no research available to help us more deeply understand the topic. What follows is the result of a survey conducted from December 2016 through January 2017 by Kantar TNS. We surveyed midsized to large organizations, that have either deployed Hybrid Cloud solutions or were planning to do so within 12 months, to determine their understanding and usage of hybrid cloud. We wanted to get at the drivers, benefits, challenges, and solutions in the hybrid cloud space. This report outlines the data obtained and provides a detailed look into the state of the hybrid cloud. Key takeaways from the survey • Digital transformation and business growth drives the need for hybrid cloud. • Hybrid cloud usage is generally high and varies widely by industry, country, and age of the organization. More established organizations are very likely to be using hybrid cloud. • The top benefit of hybrid cloud is flexibility, offering the opportunity to achieve cloud benefits while still maintaining existing resources. The benefits outweigh the challenges. • The top challenges with hybrid cloud are complexity and lack of skill sets. Organizations that have deployed hybrid cloud put more value on consistency across cloud and on-premises environments. 1
- 2. 2 Overview of respondents The survey was conducted in four countries (U.S., Germany, U.K., and India) with a total of 1,175 participants. Most respondents were in IT, although there is a good representation from the business side as well. Most respondents were decision-makers in some aspect of their role. The organizations where the respondents worked spanned many industries and company sizes. More detailed organization and demographic information is available in the Appendix. Digital transformation and business growth drives the need for hybrid cloud Enterprises must innovate to remain competitive and ahead of the game. Digital transformation is top of mind for executives, and one cause for the growth of cloud computing is the need for enterprises to innovate faster. IT is at the heart of how companies use technology, and IT staff are looking for ways to evolve their strategy to support this pace of innovation while still providing the stability and protection their companies need. So it’s no surprise that the top triggers for hybrid cloud projects relate to business growth and the continued evolution of overall IT strategy. IT and business leaders alike view hybrid cloud as part of their business strategy— and it seems to be working, with 92 percent of those who have deployed a hybrid cloud solution indicated they would do it again. 46% 37% 35% 34% 33% Preparation for future IT strategy in the organization Business growth (new units, divisions, merger, geographies, etc.) Alignment with business strategy Integration of different systems New application/software Q: What were the primary reasons behind your organization’s last Hybrid Cloud solution deployment?
- 3. 3 There is a common understanding of hybrid cloud, but challenges identifying it in practice Generally, respondents all had very similar definitions of hybrid cloud. Nearly everyone chose to define it as some form of integration of cloud and on-premises environments. First we asked whether they were yet using hybrid cloud, and then later in the survey asked them to select solutions from a list that they had deployed in the past year, with 63 percent saying they currently have at least one hybrid solution. What we found surprising was the large number of cases where a respondent said they were not using a hybrid solution, but then selected a hybrid option from the list of deployed solutions. It seems that while the conceptual definition of hybrid cloud is not challenging for people, identifying hybrid cloud in practice is more difficult. Real vs. Perceived Hybrid usage 63% 37% 52% 48% Current user (one or more use cases deployed) True intender (no use cases deployed) Current users who stated to have a Hybrid solution Intenders who stated NOT to have a Hybrid solution yet … almost half of those Intenders are actually deploying a Hybrid Use Case. However… Q: Which of the following deployment methods is your organization using or planning to use for its technology solutions/applications? For each of the following Hybrid Cloud use cases, please indicate where your organization is in the deployment process. Real vs. Perceived Hybrid usage 63% 37% 52% 48% Current user (one or more use cases deployed) True intender (no use cases deployed) Current users who stated to have a Hybrid solution Intenders who stated NOT to have a Hybrid solution yet … almost half of those Intenders are actually deploying a Hybrid Use Case. However…
- 4. 4 Once engaged, hybrid cloud is the most popular deployment method We presented different cloud and on-premises models and asked which of them would be used going forward. The most selected model was hybrid cloud, with all users either using it now (81 percent) or planning to use it in 12 months (19 percent). On-premises plans were similar, whereas public cloud and private cloud lag. Even as more and more enterprises have moved toward the cloud and even taken cloud-first strategies, often they are not taking a cloud-only strategy. A cloud transition does not happen overnight. Some organizations have indicated that hybrid is, in fact, an end-state for them as it helps them deal with regulatory or privacy challenges. 80% 60% 59% 81% 19% 34% 33% 19% 1% 4% 5% 1% 2% 4% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% On Premise Public Cloud Private Cloud Hybrid Cloud Currently using Planning to use in the next 12 months Planning to use in more than 12 months Not planning to use in the future Q: Which of the following deployment methods is your organization using or planning to use for its technology solutions/applications?
- 5. 5 Hybrid cloud usage varies a lot by industry and country While the adoption of hybrid cloud is generally high, regulated industries like banking and healthcare rank near the top. Hybrid cloud allows such companies to leverage the cloud as much as possible, while still meeting their compliance requirements. Other industries near the top of the list are those like retail that tend to have remote or distributed facilities, which may not have reliable or fast connections to the cloud. Hybrid cloud provides these industries with the flexibility needed to optimize their environments. Hybrid cloud adoption also varied between countries. Along with lower adoption of the cloud in general due to data sovereignty laws, Germany also lagged far behind in hybrid cloud adoption. India, on the other hand, showed very high adoption, perhaps in part due to Internet latency and the need to keep IT assets close to where they are used. Average: 81% Above average Average: 81% Above average Q: Is your organization using hybrid cloud solutions?
- 6. 6 More established organizations are using hybrid cloud The correlation between the number of years a company has been in business and its hybrid cloud usage is very strong. Organizations over 10 years old have already made significant technology investments, and they are extremely likely to be using hybrid cloud. The number drops quite a bit for companies less than 10 years old, especially when filtering out IT services and software companies, which are generally more likely to use hybrid cloud. With that filter about 50 percent of companies less than 10 years old are using hybrid cloud, versus nearly 90 percent for 10-year-old companies. 49% 59% 86% 91% 84% 52% 41% 14% 9% 16% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% < 10years * < 10years 10 - 24 years 25 - 49 years 50 + years User Non User Source: FY17 Hybrid Cloud Note : * indicates Not including IT Services/Software Industry 49% 59% 86% 91% 84% 52% 41% 14% 9% 16% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% < 10years * < 10years 10 - 24 years 25 - 49 years 50 + years User Non User Source: FY17 Hybrid Cloud Note : * indicates Not including IT Services/Software Industry Usage of Hybrid Cloud by organization age.
- 7. 7 26% 26% 26% 28% 28% 29% 30% 31% 32% 33% 35% 40% 41% 44% 41% 40% 42% 40% 39% 41% 40% 40% 21% 22% 19% 21% 22% 19% 20% 20% 18% 19% 16% 9% 9% 6% 7% 6% 6% 7% 7% 7% 6% 6% 5% 2% 5% 3% 3% 4% 3% 2% 2% 2% 3% Using Trialing Engaged Interested No plans < Using: already deployed a hybrid solution < Trialing: running hybrid solution trials < Engaged: Not yet deploying, but researching about it < Interested: Not yet deploying, nor researching; < No plans: no interest More likely used in enterprises Integrated productivity experiences across environments Secure, high performance networking Single-user identification Cloud and on-prem Disaster-Recovery-as-a-Service Front end Cloud, data on-premises Archival of on-premises data to Cloud Analytics/BI from on-prem to Cloud Unified monitoring across multiple environments Dev/Test Cloud, Production on-premises Advanced security analytics in unified view Global applications 37% 21% 31% 62% 37% 23% 38% 63% 46% 24% 40% 70% 54% 32% 56% 81% n=71 n=31 n=77 n=112 Hybrid cloud solutions are used in many scenarios Hybrid cloud is happening now, with 48 percent of respondents indicating they were currently undergoing a deployment. In looking at usage by different types of use cases (see the Appendix for the definitions), the distribution is fairly spread out, as you can see from the chart. More interesting are the solutions that stand out more for enterprises, which tend to deal with greater complexity, including dealing with managing identity, data location, and global rollouts. Going a step further and categorizing the use cases into applications, data, infrastructure, and identity, we see other interesting trends. Infrastructure use cases lead overall. But again this varies widely by country— for example, with very high usage of identity use cases in India. Q: For each of the following Hybrid Cloud use cases, please indicate where your organization is in the deployment process.
- 8. 8 Prioritization of hybrid capabilities changes once users deploy a solution We also asked participants to identify the most important capabilities in a hybrid cloud. The “other” response was very low, indicating this was a good list of the requirements people typically consider. Network connectivity scored the highest, which makes sense given that it’s a foundational element for connecting different datacenters. Q: In your opinion, what are the key capabilities of a Hybrid Cloud solution? Please select up to three most relevant characteristics from the list below. 59% 50% 49% 47% 40% 37% 1% Network connectivity between on- premises and public cloud Unified management across multiple operating systems and public clouds Consistent end-user experience for an application across environments Seamless portability of applications and data Common APIs, services, and tools to build and deploy applications Single User identity for controlled application access across environments Other
- 9. 9 The differences in the results between those who have deployed and those who have not were interesting. Those who were planning to deploy considered network connectivity as the most important capability, but that number dropped nearly 15 points for those who were already using hybrid cloud. On the other hand, the importance of having a consistent application experience across environments, seamless portability, and common tools to build and deploy applications were higher for those who were currently using. Current users had a more accurate notion of what they needed to fight potential complexity in their hybrid environment, and indeed successful hybrid cloud requires much more than just connectivity. 56% 49% 50% 48% 42% 35% 1% 70% 51% 44% 43% 32% 41% 0% Network connectivity between on- premises and public cloud Unified management across multiple operating systems and public clouds Consistent end-user experience for an application across environments Seamless portability of applications and data Common APIs, services, and tools to build and deploy applications Single User identity for controlled application access across environments Other Hybrid user Hybrid intender ect up to three most relevant characteristics from the list below (Total n=1175, Hybrid User, n=947, Hybrid Intender n=228) Key capabilities according to users vs. intenders Expectation higher than Experience Experience higher than Expectation Q: In your opinion, what are the key capabilities of a Hybrid Cloud solution? Please select up to three most relevant characteristics from the list below.
- 10. 10 Responses also showed a variance in the importance of certain hybrid cloud capabilities by the age of the company as well as by country. US UK India Germany Hybrid Cloud Components n 513 169 325 168 Network connectivity between on-premises and public cloud Seamless portability of applications and data Common APIs, services, and tools to build and deploy applications Unified management across multiple operating systems and public clouds Single User identity for controlled application access across environments Consistent end-user experience for an application across environments Other (specify) 57% 49% 39% 49% 37% 48% 1% 56% 44% 37% 42% 47% 47% 2% 58% 47% 45% 54% 35% 53% 0% 70% 44% 38% 53% 26% 45% 0% Source: FY17 Hybrid Cloud < 10years 10 - 24 years 25 - 49 years 50 + years Hybrid Cloud Components N 257 464 247 197 Network connectivity between on-premises and public cloud Seamless portability of applications and data Common APIs, services, and tools to build and deploy applications Unified management across multiple operating systems and public clouds Single User identity for controlled application access across environments Consistent end-user experience for an application across environments Other (specify) 68% 43% 41% 52% 44% 43% 0% 59% 49% 42% 49% 38% 50% 0% 56% 43% 41% 51% 34% 48% 2% 51% 51% 37% 47% 29% 54% 1% Source: FY17 Hybrid Cloud
- 11. 11 Flexibility is key as organizations move toward hybrid cloud Organizations overall say flexibility and portability rank first, followed by scalability and performance, as the top three benefits they are looking for in a hybrid cloud. 46% 45% 43% 38% 35% 35% 33% 32% 31% 30% 28% 26% More flexibility because of portability/compatibility across environments Better scalability Increased performance and/or higher availability More cost-efficient Better security and/or control Improved IT risk management Ability to extend or modernize my current applications More opportunity for innovation Easier to maintain Faster time-to-market Ability to improve analytics and intelligence on my existing data Better governance and compliance Q: Which of the following do you consider the most important benefits of Hybrid Cloud (versus a non-hybrid cloud) environment? Please select up to five responses.
- 12. 12 Benefits is another area where the picture differs between those who are planning to deploy versus those who have deployed. Those already in deployment find flexibility and scalability more important. While planners also felt scalability was important, they responded that IT risk management was an important benefit. Benefits Using Planning n 947 228 Faster time-to-market Better scalability Increased performance and/or higher availability More cost-efficient Better security and/or control Better governance and compliance Easier to maintain More flexibility because of portability/compatibility across environments Ability to improve analytics and intelligence on my existing data More opportunity for innovation Improved IT risk management Ability to extend or modernize my current applications Other (specify) None of the above 30% 47% 43% 37% 34% 26% 30% 47% 27% 31% 33% 31% 0% 1% 31% 39% 43% 42% 41% 28% 33% 40% 32% 34% 43% 39% 0% 1%
- 13. 13 Complexity and lack of skill set are top challenges for hybrid cloud Hybrid cloud provides many benefits, but organizations also face challenges. Respondents indicated complexity was the biggest challenge they faced, along with a lack of skill sets. This is even more true for financial services and manufacturing firms, as well as for more established organizations. 53% 48% 47% 38% 38% 37% 30% 29% More complex environment Lack of hybrid cloud skillset available Limited support available for issues Limited governance and compliance More availability issues and/or reduced performance Less secure Less cost-efficient Slower time-to-market Q: Which of the following do you consider the most important challenges of Hybrid Cloud (versus a non-hybrid cloud environment)? Please select up to five responses.
- 14. 14 Complexity is potentially multiplied in a hybrid cloud where multiple locations need to be integrated. This can mean multiple systems, which then require multiple skill sets. As noted earlier, more established companies recognize the value of consistency across these environments to help reduce this complexity. < 10years 10 - 24 years 25 - 49 years 50 + years Hybrid Cloud Challenges N 257 464 247 197 Limited support available for issues Lack of hybrid cloud skillset available More complex environment More availability issues and/or reduced performance Limited governance and compliance Less cost-efficient Less secure Slower time-to-market None of the above Other (specify) 57 % 56 % 55 % 54 % 49 % 44 % 44 % 40 % 2% 0% 48 % 46 % 50 % 41 % 41 % 30 % 34 % 32 % 5% 0% 42 % 44 % 49 % 30 % 35 % 27 % 35 % 22 % 6% 1% 37 % 47 % 62 % 22 % 24 % 17 % 41 % 14 % 8% 2% Planning 227 224 228 3% 63% 17% 12% 5% 0% 2% 4% 70% 15% 3% 2% 1% 3% 55% 3% 2% 40% Hybrid Cloud Challenges Using Planning n 947 228 Slower time-to-market More availability issues and/or reduced performance Less cost-efficient Less secure Limited governance and compliance More complex environment Lack of hybrid cloud skillset available Limited support available for issues Other (specify) None of the above 27% 35% 27% 35% 34% 52% 44% 45% 1% 6% 35% 54% 43% 46% 56% 57% 61% 56% 1% 2%
- 15. 15 Appendix A: Demographics US n=513 UK n=169 India n=325 Germany n=168 xxx Industry US UK India Germany n 513 169 325 168 Process manufacturing Discrete manufacturing Professional services Resources and construction Transportation Banking Healthcare services Retail trade IT Services / Software Communications Other financial services Wholesale Utilities Insurance Personal and other services Other 14% 13% 9% 8% 7% 6% 6% 6% 6% 5% 4% 4% 3% 2% 1% 5% 11% 11% 12% 2% 8% 14% 2% 5% 7% 6% 5% 2% 3% 3% 1% 9% 11% 9% 7% 2% 1% 7% 2% 12% 20% 1% 3% 14% 2% 6% 0% 4% 14% 16% 5% 7% 10% 5% 7% 2% 2% 5% 4% 2% 4% 8% 1% 6% Source: FY17 Hybrid Cloud Gender Male Female Formal IT Informal IT Developer Business DM Primary Role 82% 4% 1% 13% 84% 2% 1% 13% 56% 3% 2% 39% 74% 2% 1% 24% 18 to 24 25 to 34 35 to 44 45 to 54 55 to 64 65 or older N= 508 165 325 167 Age 1% 34% 33% 20% 9% 2% 3% 30% 36% 22% 8% 0% 3% 52% 38% 4% 2% 0% 2% 41% 26% 21% 10% 0% 77% 23 % 88% 12 % 62% 38 % 88% 12 % I make decisions I rarely influence User Access Decision Making 96% 4% 96% 4% 99% 0% 98% 3% Application Decision Making I make decisions I rarely influence 97% 3% 99% 1% 99% 0% 98% 2% I make decisions I rarely influence Infrastructure Decision Making 97% 3% 93% 6% 99% 1% 99% 1%
- 16. 16 Appendix A: Demographicsxxx Organization Size (In-Country PCs) n 513 169 325 168 250 to 499 PCs 500 to 999 PCs 1000 to 2999 PCs 3000 to 4999 PCs Or 5000 or more PCs Organization Age n 508 166 323 168 Less than 2 years 2 to 5 years 6 to 9 years 10 to 24 years 25 to 49 years 50 or more years US UK India Germany 25% 32% 18% 7% 18% 18% 46% 18% 5% 12% 16% 35% 36% 4% 9% 0% 2% 13% 40% 24% 22% 0% 3% 23% 33% 23% 17% 0% 4% 24% 53% 17% 2% Source: FY17 Hybrid Cloud
- 17. 17 Appendix B: Use Case Definitions Hybrid Applications Global applications – deploying the same app to multiple locations worldwide Enable your developers to build applications in a common way and deploy them to the right locations, based on business and technical requirements. Increase application development agility and consistency by reusing application templates and components Application front end in public cloud with sensitive data on- premises Extend your existing applications by combining on-premises application data with on-demand public cloud resources. Provide scalable web and mobile experiences during times of high application use. Data Archival of on-premises application data in public cloud Integrate lower cost, bottomless cloud storage to your existing application by storing cold application data in public cloud. No application code changes are needed. Your application data is securely encrypted and remains online for queries. Using analytics or business intelligence in the cloud to process data from on-premises applications and/or smart devices Improve your business processes by transforming customer and/or operational data (e.g.; from applications and smart devices) into actionable insights using the scale and intelligence of public cloud. These are the definitions and pictures shared with respondents to identify use cases.
- 18. 18 Appendix B: Use Case Definitions User Integrated email/ collaboration experiences across on- premises and public cloud a) Combine a public cloud collaboration solution with on-premises collaboration for connected experiences, including team sites, document storage, and search. a) Combine a public cloud email solution with on-premises mail servers while having all users sharing the same email address space. Leverage your existing mail server infrastructure till you feel ready to move email fully to public cloud. Controlled application access with a single user identity across on-premises and public clouds Maintain control over employees’ access to applications with a single user identity across on- premises and cloud environments. Enhance end user productivity by enabling single sign on (SSO) access to 1000s of SaaS apps. Infrastructure Secure, high performance networking between on-premises and public cloud Seamlessly integrate your on-premises applications with public cloud resources through virtual networking. Extend your datacenter securely with flexible connectivity options, including VPN or dedicated high-speed links. Disaster-Recovery-as-a-Service (DR as-a-Service) Ensure availability of critical applications and data with automated, workload-aware Disaster Recovery (DR) plans. Protect and replicate complex workloads, including SAP and SQL. Achieve near-synchronous replication between on-premises to cloud or cloud to cloud.
- 19. 19 Appendix B: Use Case Definitions Infrastructure Unified monitoring across multiple public clouds and on- premises environments Gain actionable insights and analytics across your applications and workloads across on- premises and multiple public clouds, all in a single management experience. Dev/Test in public cloud with on-premises production deployment Accelerate application development with dev/ test infrastructure in the public cloud. Enable self-service so your developers can start building in minutes. Turn off the resources when you don’t need them to save costs. Mirror your on-premises production environment in public cloud for consistency. Infrastructure Advanced security analytics across entire environment in a unified view Prevent, detect, and respond to threats across your hybrid cloud. Understand the security posture of your entire environment in a single view, be it antimalware, patching or configuration baselines. Use cloud-scale analytics to perform more intelligent and effective threat detection.