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Core Communications
Balance cost and
capability
For SMBs, some of the reluctance
to adopt cloud-based communication
services stems from existing invest-
ment in on-premises systems. Hybrid
is a first step into the cloud – and of-
fers the chance for SMBs to reduce
on-premises hardware slowly without a
full-scale commitment to cloud-based
operations. It enables them to retain
on-premises platforms to leverage exist-
ing investment, and add cost-effective
cloud-based communication services
where needed to support business
requirements. These could be new ser-
vices such as enterprise-class instant
messaging, flexible web conferencing
and collaboration tools, or video calling.
The hybrid approach also provides
an easy migration path in the future.
As the existing on-premises equip-
ment reaches the end of its lifespan,
SMBs will already be in a position
to understand the pros and cons
of cloud-based services, enabling
them to make the best decisions for
their future communications platform.
As older on-site communications
systems become more challenging
to maintain, they can be smoothly
phased out in favor of public or private
cloud services.
Provider safety net
Hybrid cloud frees up in-house
resources by shifting responsibility
for maintenance and support to the
cloud provider – especially for more
complex services. This avoids tying
up the limited capacity of on-site IT
departments with cloud deployment
and management.
Whether services rely on the
availability of on-premises systems or
the public cloud, even a short period
of downtime can severely affect busi-
ness. Ensuring service level agree-
ments (SLAs) to provide continuous
management, maintenance and on-
demand support to minimize down-
time can be a huge benefit for SMBs.
By this, we’re talking about remote
updating of software and hardware,
as well as patching security flaws
without delay – allowing in-house IT
departments to focus on keeping on-
premises systems operational.
A key aspect of hybrid is the ability
to shift this burden to the provider but
retain control in-house for the premises.
David vs Goliath?
Traditionally only larger enterprises
have been able to afford the luxury of
large-scale investment into IT depart-
ments and new infrastructure, but hy-
brid cloud is levelling the playing field
for SMBs.
Hybrid cloud puts SMBs on a tech-
nological par by meeting current busi-
ness and workforce demands for cloud,
while pushing responsibility for man-
agement and support out to a provider.
Investment is protected by retaining
on-premises infrastructure to meet se-
curity and data privacy requirements.
o
Jack Jachner is vice president
cloud, North America region for
Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise.
How important is it to you to have a hybrid
cloud strategy–incorporating elements of both private
and public clouds–versus just a public or private cloud one?
How will your hybrid cloud strategy change
over the next two years?
Source: CompTIA, survey of 600 IT and business executives
Source: Forbes Insights; Cisco; survey of 302 IT executives
Datacent
Source: 451 Rese
What are the
Aging inf
Increase
From th
Increas
Re
Ne
Re
Need
Uptime
Increasing N
I/O Re
Need fo
Automation/O
Increased
Re
13%
33%
27%
20%
6%
44%
57%
Nearly half of small-
size firms indicate a
growing gap
Nearly 6 in 10 large-size
firms report a
growing gap
Growing
significantly
Growing
moderately
No
change
Shrinking
moderately
Shrinking
significantly
Just over 4 in 10
medium-size firms
beli ve the gap
is growing
3%
62%
21%
54%
3%
9%
13%
35%
30%
11%
25%
35%
What percentage of your hybrid cloud infrastructure
is on-premises versus public cloud?
Important
Neutral
Not at all Important
Increased reliance on public cloud services
Greater than 90% on-premises
75% to 90% on-premises
50% to 74% on-premises
25% to 49% on-premises
10% to 24% on-premises
Less than 10% on-premises
Increased reliance on on-premises
No change expected
July - August, 2017
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Channel
Vision
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