Parallels, a sub-brand of the global technology company Alludo, has released the results of its 2023 Hybrid Cloud Survey, which was administered to IT professionals. The research by Parallels indicates that 72% of mid-size companies (with 500 to 1,999 employees) consider skill gaps in cloud management as a major hindrance to their growth. This talent shortage is pushing businesses to adopt a hybrid cloud strategy, with 64% of companies already implementing this approach.
A hybrid cloud setup is defined as a combination of public clouds, private clouds, and on-premises infrastructures used together by organizations to store, manage, and run their data and applications.
Companies are increasingly utilizing hybrid cloud architecture as a coping mechanism. Three quarters of the respondents to the research said they planned to use a hybrid approach within the next year, and sixty-four percent had already done so.
The research also looked at how individuals utilize public clouds and found that most people benefit from them the most. Nevertheless, 18% of participants from large corporations admit that they are not reaping the full benefits of using public clouds. One-sixth of workers across all companies are in a similar predicament. Concerning the challenge of moving to the public cloud, 41% of respondents fall into this group. The challenge of recruiting IT personnel (15%) and the deficiency of internal cloud expertise (33%), compound this issue.
In July 2023, 805 IT professionals in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany provided data for Parallels’ Hybrid Cloud Survey.
“IDC’s xOps Census and Forecast 2022 to 2027 demonstrates that the existing shortage of roughly 1.5 million IT professionals globally has already made it difficult for small and medium businesses to get the resources they need, driving a need for new innovation and infrastructure solutions,” said Shannon Kalvar, Director at IDC Research. “Due to retirements and a lack of new entrants, that gap will grow to almost 8 million IT professionals worldwide by 2027, forcing the industry to adopt entirely new ways of getting work done.”
Hybrid Work with Hybrid Cloud
Hybrid cloud infrastructure is the most widely used strategy for allowing a hybrid workforce, according to Parallels research. The hybrid cloud is used by 82% of the 83% of respondents who now operate in a hybrid structure, which combines remote and in-office work.
The following is a comparison between the top five benefits of hybrid cloud and 100% on-premises infrastructure or 100% public cloud:
- Greater adaptability (49%)
- Enhanced protection (46%)
- Savings on costs (45%)
- A rise in dependability (44%).
- 40% is Scalability
Legacy Applications Persist
The persistence of hybrid cloud usage may also be attributed to the importance of legacy applications. Almost half (49%) of the IT professionals questioned said they would need to access old Windows and Linux apps for more than five years from now, and almost all (96%) said they now require them.
This is particularly true for smaller businesses, as shown by the 54% who say this is extremely essential. The percentage of respondents who said they didn’t utilize any older apps was only 4%. The difficulty of legacy applications may be addressed with a hybrid cloud strategy, which would allow for gradual modifications to the IT infrastructure without requiring a complete overhaul of potentially uncloud-ready applications.
“While it’s true that cloud use is not a ‘one size fits all’ proposition, it is clear that a hybrid cloud model is preferred by companies, both large and small,” said Prashant Ketkar, Chief Technology & Product Officer at Alludo. “As organizations struggle to find and retain the talent they need to manage complex cloud implementations, hybrid cloud can be the solution. By using a more incremental cloud adoption approach, supported by easy-to-manage software solutions that are enhanced with automation and security, IT professionals can realize the flexibility and cost savings they want from the cloud, without specialized cloud management expertise.”
Parallels’ RAS (Remote Application Server) technology would make it easier to implement a hybrid cloud strategy. The most recent version of Parallels RAS would allow for time savings for IT administration in settings like Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), while also improving automation and security for end-user computing in a hybrid cloud environment.
