It’s a hybrid cloud world

Our customers tell us every day: They appreciate the ease and agility of as-a-Service models, but don’t want to be locked into any one platform. They want the flexibility to choose the right path to best meet their objectives. A hybrid approach – with the mixed use of private cloud, public cloud, and on-prem infrastructure – delivers.  

On-prem is in demand

Industry research confirms our own experience with customers: Nearly three out of four respondents (72%) in an Everest Group survey say they have a hybrid-first or private-first cloud strategy. This indicates that along with growing public cloud momentum, there is a continued reliance on on-prem infrastructure.

In fact, 88% of cloud strategies include on-prem infrastructure, according to a recent ESG Research Study.¹ On-prem adoption is expected to remain steady at this level – or even tick up slightly – over the next three years. On-prem can be deployed wherever it is needed, from data centers to edge locations and colocation facilities. This is important for mission-critical or performance-intensive workloads that require infrastructure to be right where the data is being processed and analyzed, as well as for security and compliance. On-prem is the cornerstone of private cloud, offering several key advantages.  

Drivers of adoption

Organizations use on-prem private cloud for risk mitigation, fast performance, cost containment, and compliance. These are the top factors driving decisions on where to place workloads and data, according to research from IDC commissioned by Dell Technologies. In fact, according to a recent IDC Cloud Pulse Survey,² private clouds are seen as strategic imperatives. Today private clouds account for 40% of cloud spending, though enterprises expect to spend more on private than public clouds two years from now. Most organizations today have two or more in their enterprise, with customer feedback and publicly available data suggesting this number will continue to grow.

The same can be said for public cloud. Typically, enterprises use two or more vendor platforms today with anticipated growth. Organizations will continue to turn to public cloud for simplified operations and enhanced agility. These are important drivers for accelerating innovation. Customers say their use of public cloud increased due to uncertainties in 2020, and they expect a more balanced approach between public and private cloud to return.

The best of both clouds

What’s abundantly clear is that both private cloud and public cloud have their advantages. Yet, there are also trade-offs when choosing one or the other. Our customers tell us they want a solution that brings together the best of what each has to offer. They want an alternative approach that bridges this divide, delivering as-a-Service wherever it is needed.  

Learn more

On Tuesday May 5th, please join us for our annual Dell Technologies World digital experience, where you can learn more about what we have in store. Session 100 will provide an introduction to Project APEX, where you will hear how Dell Technologies can deliver Infrastructure as-a-Service in your data center, edge location, or colocation facility – enabling you to drive digital transformation more quickly, easily, and securely in your organization. It’s where you will hear more about how we aim to bring together the best of private and public cloud, delivering a range of all-in-one cloud and as-a-Service subscriptions.

You can sign up for this session here. We look forward to answering your questions during the live broadcast.

¹ Source: ESG Research Insights Paper, “Exploring Hybrid Cloud Adoption and the Complexity of Securing East-West Traffic” Commissioned by VMware, Jan 2020.

² Source: IDC Cloud Pulse Q4 2020 Quarterly Survey, December 2020