Cynthya Peranandam and Laura Sanders of IBM discuss in a recent article what benefits Hybrid Cloud brings to organizations.  Today, let’s look at their breakdown:

Efficiency and productivity benefits.  This may sound familiar as it is regularly noted as a Hybrid cloud benefit.  To be more specific, Ms. Peranandam and Sanders cite a recent IBM study of hybrid cloud leaders which found that 85% of those surveyed reported cost benefits from being able to shift some fixed costs to variable costs. 82% reported productivity gains.

Advancements up the “digital value chain.”  The author’s write, “what’s new is the focus on hybrid cloud as an enabler of digital change, by enabling product and service innovation and the ability to expand into new markets and serve new customer segments.” The survey finds leading companies are four times more likely to use hybrid for digital services.  Hybrid cloud allows developers to accelerate development to bring new services faster to market.

Increased ability to use emerging tech.  Technologies such as cognitive computing have hybrid computing part of their foundation.  Hybrid leaders in IBM’s survey are using hybrid cloud to gain an edge in the market place.

The authors point out that  hybrid cloud has become the norm, but many businesses still struggle to gain the above benefits. The reason why is the lack of a clear and deliberate strategy. Before you begin your hybrid cloud journey they recommend that first your strategy must maximize your existing infrastructure and also that any hybrid solution you choose must grant you greater visibility over the entire system. Having a clear strategy will help you reap more benefits from your hybrid cloud solution.