1/7 HYBRID IT STRATEGY AS A PATH FORWARD

Building a bridge between

today’s environment and
tomorrow’s technology
Hybrid IT — an environment that encompasses a The cloud
wide mix of assets as well as internal and external IT promises to
services — requires enlightened governance. At present, address a problem
the specter of “shadow IT” threatens to put enterprises that IT has always
at serious risk. By acting unilaterally, lines of business faced: how to
take steps that could prove detrimental to the reputation reduce the level
of the enterprise. of capital costs
while delivering
a product or
While a series of triggers are now Building the Bridge
motivating IT leaders to rethink the There’s a growing interest in Hybrid IT service to the
management of their increasingly among industry analysts and thought market faster.
complex and diverse environments, leaders. The discussion has gained
it’s clear they will need thoughtful prominence as line of business (LOB)
strategies to effectively govern. leaders increasingly act unilaterally
to obtain the applications and
Forward-looking IT leaders are now capabilities they require. The question
actively adopting Hybrid IT strategies is whether IT leaders will adopt
as a secure bridge from the present Hybrid IT strategies that address the
environment to a well-governed future governance and risk-related issues
that sensibly incorporates the next now facing their enterprises while
wave of technologies, particularly ensuring LOBs meet their own
cloud-based solutions. demanding business objectives.

Given the immense complexity It’s as if the members of a large group

of Hybrid IT environments, most IT were standing on one side of a raging
organizations are relying on solution river wishing they could get to the
partners to guide them through the other side. Indeed, some of the best
demanding transitions ahead while (and most determined) swimmers may
providing the necessary management have already made the crossing.
services, implementation and Knowing that others will drown if they
integration support. Choosing your try to swim, someone must construct
partner wisely is a critical step in a bridge to get everyone else across
making the shift from the safely. Bridge building, however, is
current to the future state. difficult work and requires the guidance
and support of reliable experts.

Hybrid IT refers to the combination

of internal and external IT services.
It can mean a mix of legacy
environments and cloud platforms.
It can also stand for the integration
of existing IT investments in time,
resources, money, infrastructures,
application development and security
protocols with new technologies,
particularly cloud-based.

WHITE PAPER

Thought Leadership
2/7 HYBRID IT STRATEGY AS A PATH FORWARD

Hybrid IT strategy is a perspective — an approach —

on how to manage IT going forward. It addresses the array
of technology issues, business expectations, security and
75%
or more of
control concerns, and diverse cost structures that emerge new IT will be
in today’s complex and heterogeneous IT environments. cloud-based
It is not enough to simply recognize the faster and more efficiently? The
or Hybrid 2
existence of Hybrid IT environments. ultimate goal is to take advantage of
As Gartner indicates, “The IT the promise of new technology while
professional will be responsible for leveraging existing investments.
brokering solutions from available
service providers, including What’s driving hybridization?
themselves. This collection of external The increased pervasiveness of cloud
and internal service providers will technologies is the primary motivation
create a ‘market of functions’ — for taking a strategic approach to
functions that can be used to fulfill Hybrid IT growth. In fact, Saugatuck
service contracts and can be easily Technology predicts that, by 2016,
swapped in and out based on policy “75% or more of new IT will be
variables (e.g., cost-effectiveness, cloud-based or Hybrid.” 2
geography and provider viability).” 1
As such, there is a pervasive need to This pervasiveness can be attributed
develop a proactive strategy to meet to the promise of cloud and opportunity
the risks and seize the opportunities for immediate gratification. The cloud
presented in a Hybrid IT environment. promises to address a problem that
IT has always faced: how to reduce
It starts with the business challenges the level of capital costs while
being addressed. Why the desire to delivering a product or service to the
add new technologies (in most cases, market faster. When IT no longer has
cloud) to the existing environment? Is it to order, pay for, provision and manage
due to a specific, foreseeable event a physical infrastructure, the cost of
such as an acquisition, the end-of-life IT moves from a capital expenditure
of a core application or the need to to an operational expense (making
upgrade that application and potentially it more predictable).
move it to a more efficient platform?
Are you looking for a way to move

1 Gartner, “Hybrid IT: How Internal and

External Cloud Services Are Transforming IT,”
Chris Howard, Drue Reeves, Anne Thomas
Manes, Bob Blakley, Dan Blumand, 2 Saugatuck Technology, “Cloud Business
8 February, 2012 Solution Survey,” February 2012.

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In addition to the Additionally, this shift frees capital to In addition to the promise of cloud are
be used for strategic investments the business realities facing IT today.
promise of cloud are the directly related to the core business. The pressures to grow the business
business realities facing Bill Goodwin, in Computer Weekly, are greater than ever. Executives are
IT today. The pressures predicts that in 2013, “investment on expected to get products to market
capital projects will slow, as operational faster and drive growth much higher —
to grow the business spending assumes a higher proportion even as they reduce costs through
are greater than ever. of the IT budget.” 3 increased efficiencies. Indeed,
executives often don’t have years
At the same time, customer, partner to affect the bottom line — they
and employee expectations have may only have months to make
changed. As consumers, employees a measurable impact.
have grown accustomed to accessing
and using information instantly. This But there are limits to what activities
revolution is extending into their work can be smartly and safely moved to the
life. They now want to work remotely external or public cloud. Indeed, current
but still access sensitive data 24/7. investments in equipment, issues of
Customers also expect this level of security and control, and factors such
service (e.g., they want to do business as performance and availability can
on their own terms and at a time of all favor continuing commitments
their choosing). The demands of an to internal IT services and even
always-on, always-available economy internal/private cloud solutions.
are driving new expectations.

3 Bill Goodwin, “IT budgets to rise in 2013

despite downturn,” Computer Weekly,
December 2012.

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4/7 HYBRID IT STRATEGY AS A PATH FORWARD

When IT loses the Triggers for taking action

Aside from the promises of new While such triggers encourage
ability to govern its technology and the business realities rethinking and reassessments among
environment, it puts the that companies face, there are a many IT decision-makers, they don’t
enterprise and its brand number of triggers motivating IT always lead to strategic thinking.
leaders to rethink how they are Some IT organizations continue to be
reputation at stake. managing their own Hybrid IT reactive – even as line of business
environments: leaders become increasingly assertive.
• Transformational events: As a result, IT governance issues may
These could be significant business- not be fully addressed or managed.
related developments such as a
merger or acquisition, or IT-driven What are the risks of a reactive
such as an application upgrade approach? Costs, for one, can become
or datacenter consolidation. unpredictable as purchasing decisions
Transformational events provide an become decentralized and master
opportunity for companies to think agreements are not sought. Issues
differently about their infrastructure of data security and protection also
in light of new technology. emerge as data assets are moved
• Reduction of distractions: beyond the corporate firewall.
Enterprises are increasingly seeking In addition, issues of performance,
ways to delegate management uptime and availability can surface.
of IT infrastructure and activities, When IT loses the ability to govern
particularly when these elements its environment, it puts the enterprise
aren’t core to their business. and its brand reputation at stake.
As Gartner explains, one reason This is significant because IT
to externalize is to “refocus efforts on is responsible for delivering the
core capabilities while examining functionality of business operations
alternatives for noncore capabilities.” 4 in an integrated way to the end user.
• Leveraging technology for Applications are often interdependent
responsiveness: To increase and work together as a part of a
responsiveness, you need process. By injecting IT decisions
the ability to “scale up” and “scale out of governance into that process,
down” your IT capacity. With the ability to seamlessly deliver on
flexibility comes agility and the the enterprise’s business model
ability to focus on meeting line can be impacted dramatically.
of business requests.

4 Gartner, “Hybrid IT: How Internal and

External Cloud Services Are Transforming
IT,” Chris Howard, Drue Reeves, Anne
Thomas Manes, Bob Blakley, Dan Blumand,
8 February, 2012.

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Taking a strategic approach As Gartner indicates,

“The result is Hybrid IT,
Acceleration into the cloud — and the adoption of other, where solutions are
potentially powerful technology platforms — is likely to partially conceived,
continue unabated. As such, it is the responsibility of IT to developed and
ensure that these technologies are introduced where needed managed in-house,
and when, in a strategic way that minimizes risk. There but include external
are three essential steps to developing a Hybrid IT strategy: solutions from
1) determine business needs; consultants, partners,
2) conduct an audit; and suppliers, the cloud
3) formulate your approach. or wherever the
Determining business needs Formulating a strategy based on the solution for the
starts with having conversations with businesses needs and the potential business need is.”
business leaders to target immediate performance gaps uncovered in the
demands and how new technology audit will ensure you are proactively
or functionality might address those and preemptively governing your IT
demands. Such action establishes a environment. More than likely, you will
proactive relationship between IT and manage legacy implementations
business leaders. By actively assessing (traditional dedicated hosting) and
the requirements of the business, virtualized ones. You may have
IT ensures requirements and dedicated private clouds and access to
expectations are fully considered public clouds. You will rely on partners
and can begin the shift from merely for some IT services and manage
supporting the business to becoming others internally. You will continue to
a strategic driver of business success. manage disparate environments, but
you can adopt new technologies that
Conducting an audit will expose gaps are consistent with sensible IT policies.
between the needs of the business and
the ability of IT to meet those needs. Your strategy will recognize that as
This will provide the initial roadmap IT environments continue to evolve,
of workloads that must be hosted and the responsibilities and authority of
managed internally, workloads that an IT organization will also change.
can be more effectively supported IT will invest less in developing
by new technology, and the value specialists and more in becoming
of working with a solution partner brokers of IT services – partnering
to help integrate both. with service providers to provide
expertise where needed.
Questions to be considered as part
of an audit include: As Gartner indicates, “The result is
• What are all of the workloads Hybrid IT, where solutions are partially
in my environment? conceived, developed and managed
• Which workloads are mission critical? in-house, but include external solutions
• Which workloads are regulated from consultants, partners, suppliers,
(and that IT has ultimate the cloud or wherever the solution
responsibility for)? for the business need is.” 5
• Which workloads are perceived
as critical by the lines of business?
• Which workloads are less critical?

5 Ibid.

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Seeking Guidance and Support

As an IT leader, you are the bridge builder. You have

Case in Point to provide a solid and safe path from the current state to
the future state. You have to leverage existing resources
Energy Plus intelligently while supporting sensible adoption of new
technologies and solutions.
Energy Plus — one of the
nation’s fastest-growing energy
These are complex matters, which will Relying solely on a technology vendor
companies — decided to make
require expert guidance and support. to help develop a Hybrid IT strategy
the jump to the Cloud in order
The question is where that expertise can also result in unforeseen costs.
to handle high rates of growth
will be found. In this scenario, the vendor typically
in a way that colocation services
provides a defined solution and the
could not. But the team initially
While some enterprises will choose customer is expected to “make it fit,”
viewed the change as a “new
to take a “DIY” approach to Hybrid IT, owning the burden of managing,
and scary” idea.
this option also requires evaluation provisioning, etc.
to determine the cost and complexity
“Sungard AS evaluated our
involved. Too often “going it alone” Engaging with a service provider is, for
individual needs and provided the
creates a scenario where IT becomes most organizations, the most effective
best strategic recommendation
almost an alternative business, and the way to assess and address strategic
to help us achieve growth and
opportunity costs are not considered Hybrid IT growth. Independent service
success — a tailored solution that
ahead of time. providers typically do not lead with
wasn’t just a quick ‘out-of-box’ fix.”
a product; instead, they start with an
[Now] “We’re solving today’s
evaluation of requirements and align
problems with today’s technology.”
a solution against those requirements.
Hugh Scott, CIO, Energy Plus

So what should you look for in a strategic partner

to support Hybrid IT management efforts?
Here are several criteria that should be assessed:
• People: This begins with training • Technology: What is the breadth
and certifications, an especially of the partner’s solution portfolio?
critical factor for companies Companies don’t just need a vendor,
Download the case study operating in regulated industries. they need a partner that can give
to learn more. Additionally, how does the partner them the solutions to their needs
handle change management? (and evolve with them). Frequently
How does it mitigate the risk companies are challenged with
“We’re solving today’s of human error? integrating legacy applications that
problems with today’s • Process: Often this becomes are dependent on specific physical
technology.” a discussion around security. What hardware and older operating systems
is the partner’s security posture? with newer technologies. A partner
HUGH SCOTT, How does it handle physical security must be able to help create a roadmap
CIO, Energy Plus at its datacenter? Within its solution for integration of the legacy systems,
platform, what security is built into over time and with care, into future
the architecture that supports that IT objectives (and be able to support
infrastructure and the data? Separate that integration when it occurs).
are considerations of performance
expectations. What levels of In addition to these basic criteria,
resiliency and availability can stability of the organization (financials,
the partner deliver? What about ability to execute, proven success over
integration into change control time) should also be considered. Clearly,
and governance? How can a partner there’s a lot riding on the partner (or
assist in understanding the client’s partners) you choose. And, indeed,
overall IT and business objectives given the growing complexity of today’s
and work with them to meet both Hybrid IT environment, it’s increasingly
their immediate and long term goals? likely you’ll need to choose one.

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7/7 HYBRID IT STRATEGY AS A PATH FORWARD

Building a bridge between

today’s environment and
tomorrow’s technology
Conclusion
Crossing the bridge
As an IT leader, your challenge is to provide enlightened
governance amid mounting pressures, increasing demands
and severely constrained budgets. Taking a strategic
approach to Hybrid IT ensures you are at the forefront
of today’s IT decisions as opposed to passively reacting
to the moves of LOB leaders.

But building the bridge from the present to the future is

a demanding task, particularly given increasingly complex
array of options to be assessed, assets to be managed,
and vendor relationships to be overseen. Most likely,
you’ll need guidance from a proven and reliable partner
to ensure the bridge is soundly constructed and your
enterprise can safely cross.

For more information please visit our website at:

www.sungardas.com

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