U.S. Enterprises Rapidly Move Critical Workloads to the Hybrid Cloud, but Seek Assistance
The 2020 ISG Provider Lens™ report highlights a shift to hybrid cloud solutions among U.S. enterprises due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While short-term IT spending is delayed, cloud-based as-a-service solutions are projected to increase by 12% by year-end. Companies using hybrid clouds enjoy better flexibility and resilience. Challenges include managing large data volumes and a talent shortage in the data center industry. The report evaluates 79 providers, naming IBM as a leader in three quadrants, while others like Capgemini and Cisco excel in two.
- Cloud-based as-a-service solutions expected to increase by 12% by year-end.
- Hybrid cloud model helps enterprises maintain business continuity during the pandemic.
- Emerging AI and machine learning tools enhance service delivery and user experience.
- Short-term IT spending is delayed for many enterprises due to the pandemic.
- Significant talent shortage in the data center industry hampers growth.
STAMFORD, Conn., July 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Many U.S. enterprises are rapidly moving critical workloads to hybrid cloud environments to ensure business continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they are looking to managed services providers to help them get the best value from their cloud investments, according to a new report published today by Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a leading global technology research and advisory firm.
The 2020 ISG Provider Lens™ Next-Gen Private/Hybrid Cloud – Data Center Services & Solutions Report for the U.S. finds many enterprises are delaying or cutting IT spending in the short term, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But spending on cloud-based as-a-service solutions in the U.S. is expected to be up 12 percent by the end of the year.
Enterprises adopting the hybrid cloud model have generally been able to weather the pandemic, the report says. “Hybrid clouds give enterprises the flexibility they need to address several challenges, such as business continuity and the running of critical operations in a secure environment,” said Jan Erik Aase, director and global leader, ISG Provider Lens Research. “Hybrid cloud is proving to be a crucial factor in the success of work-from-home scenarios.”
In their move to a hybrid cloud model, many U.S. enterprises are focused on storing sensitive and valuable data on private clouds. But after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, enterprises should engage with managed services providers to avoid high capital expenditures and bills from cloud providers, the report recommends. Providers can help CIOs and CTOs with concerns about downtime and with managing their shrinking IT budgets.
The report also sees U.S. enterprises moving to the hybrid cloud model to deal with the explosive growth in the amount of data they are generating. These large volumes of data must be stored and managed in a secure environment, creating a major challenge for businesses. Some cloud providers are exploring new technologies, including data thinning and faster data transfers, to assist customers with data volume issues.
Providers also are rolling out solutions that leverage artificial intelligence-based cognitive capabilities or machine learning tools to speed up service delivery, increase IT efficiency and deliver a superior user experience, the report says. Some cloud providers have developed tools that predict downtime and take self-healing measures. AI for IT operations, or AIOps, can monitor elements of an entire hybrid environment and provide predictive analytics for incident management.
The report also notes the managed hosting market is rebounding from a recent trend of losing relevance. Managed hosting can help customers address issues related to auditing data location, migrating software licenses to the public cloud and managing the capacity and cost of hyperconverged systems.
The report also sees a major shortage of talent in the data center industry, driven by an aging workforce. It finds a rise in demand for secure data centers, as the need for enhanced security grows with the increased adoption of virtualization and cloud-based services.
Finally, the report predicts edge data centers as the next big thing in the industry. Edge solutions are designed to complement data center and cloud services, and by bringing data collection closer to the network edge for processing, edge centers can drastically reduce latency and increase responsiveness.
The 2020 ISG Provider Lens™ Next-Gen Private/Hybrid Cloud – Data Center Services & Solutions Report for the U.S. evaluates the capabilities of 79 providers across six quadrants: Managed Services for Large Accounts, Managed Services for the Midmarket, Managed Hosting, Colocation Services, Data Center Security Products and Hyperconverged Systems.
The report names IBM as a leader in three quadrants, and Capgemini, Cisco, Ensono and Rackspace Technology as leaders in two. Accenture, Broadcom/Symantec, Check Point, Cognizant, Coresite, CyrusOne, Cyxtera, Dell EMC, Digital Realty, DXC Technology, Equinix, Fujitsu, HCL, Hexaware, HPE, Infosys, Mphasis, NTT, Nutanix, Palo Alto Networks, Sungard AS, TCS, Trend Micro, VMware, Wipro, Zayo and Zensar are all named leaders in one quadrant.
A customized version of the report is available from Hexaware.
The 2020 ISG Provider Lens™ Next-Gen Private/Hybrid Cloud – Data Center Services & Solutions Report for the U.S. is available to subscribers or for one-time purchase on this webpage.
About ISG Provider Lens™ Research
The ISG Provider Lens™ Quadrant research series is the only service provider evaluation of its kind to combine empirical, data-driven research and market analysis with the real-world experience and observations of ISG's global advisory team. Enterprises will find a wealth of detailed data and market analysis to help guide their selection of appropriate sourcing partners, while ISG advisors use the reports to validate their own market knowledge and make recommendations to ISG's enterprise clients. The research currently covers providers offering their services globally, across Europe and Latin America, as well as in the U.S., Germany, the U.K., France, the Nordics, Brazil and Australia/New Zealand, with additional markets to be added in the future. For more information about ISG Provider Lens research, please visit this webpage.
The series is a complement to the ISG Provider Lens Archetype reports, which offer a first-of-its-kind evaluation of providers from the perspective of specific buyer types.
Starting this year, each ISG Provider Lens™ study will include a Global Summary to help enterprise subscribers better understand provider capabilities across all geographic markets covered by that study. All ISG Provider Lens™ reports also will now include an Enterprise Context feature to help executives quickly identify key insights related to their roles and responsibilities.
About ISG
ISG (Information Services Group) (Nasdaq: III) is a leading global technology research and advisory firm. A trusted business partner to more than 700 clients, including more than 75 of the world's top 100 enterprises, ISG is committed to helping corporations, public sector organizations, and service and technology providers achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm specializes in digital transformation services, including automation, cloud and data analytics; sourcing advisory; managed governance and risk services; network carrier services; strategy and operations design; change management; market intelligence and technology research and analysis. Founded in 2006, and based in Stamford, Conn., ISG employs more than 1,300 digital-ready professionals operating in more than 20 countries—a global team known for its innovative thinking, market influence, deep industry and technology expertise, and world-class research and analytical capabilities based on the industry’s most comprehensive marketplace data. For more information, visit www.isg-one.com.
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Will Thoretz Information Services Group, Inc. +1 203 517 3119 Will.Thoretz@isg-one.com Jim Baptiste Matter Communications for ISG +1 978 518 4527 jbaptiste@matternow.com
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