Why IT Ignores Cost, Complexity, Skills Gap for Hybrid IT, According to New Sungard Availability Services Research

The survey respondents, spread throughout the U.S. and Europe, remain committed to Hybrid IT strategies despite growing skills gaps and the potential costs and complexity of mixing cloud resources with existing in-house IT environments. A full 73 percent agreed that running a Hybrid IT environment was necessary to staying competitive, and 74 percent were willing to invest to ensure they have the skill sets within their organization to successfully run their Hybrid IT estate.

The cost of Hybrid IT varies widely, according to the study. Half of organizations saw costs increase, at an average of $291,000 per year. The other half, however, have seen significant cost savings—an average of $218,700 per year overall. Despite the costs, almost half (45 percent) were driven to Hybrid IT as part of an evolution toward the cloud, with 38 percent responding that it offered a competitive advantage. A third of respondents pointed to changing customer and workforce demands that have necessitated a Hybrid IT approach.

"Sungard AS research shows that Hybrid IT is part Jekyll, part Hyde for global businesses," said Keith Tilley, executive vice president, global sales & customer services management, Sungard Availability Services. "Organizations note that Hybrid IT improves customer satisfaction, enables flexibility, and is often essential to their business. Yet many struggle to manage, and even understand, these complex environments. What's most striking about the responses, however, is that many organizations are eager to invest in Hybrid IT, and the skills to support it, because it offers such a distinct competitive advantage."

Often, combining cloud environments with on-premises systems is necessary for legacy applications or as part of mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Nearly half of respondents (49 percent) cited mission-critical legacy applications that they needed to keep running as a key reason why they employ Hybrid IT. The second most common answer, at 48 percent, was M&A activity that left the organization with multiple IT systems.

Many of these organizations need help managing their Hybrid IT. Some 41 percent of respondents rated their organization's current IT estate as "very complex" or "extremely complex." Only 3 percent said their environment was "not at all complex." More than a third (34 percent) admitted they don't fully understand their firm's IT architecture.

One reason for the complexity might be that businesses lack the skills needed for Hybrid IT success. A full 89 percent of global respondents said their team lacks at least one skill, and two in five feel their organization isn't up to managing the complexity of their Hybrid IT estates. When asked what skills they lacked, 37 percent cited the ability to respond to security issues – the most commonly reported need. More than a quarter of organizations said that they needed to fill skills gaps in managing different IT systems across different departments (28 percent), and integrating and maintaining public and private cloud environments (27 percent each). 

Explore both the Jekyll and Hyde sides of Hybrid IT by visiting Sungardas.com/JekyllandHyde for the full research results.

About the research 
Interviews were carried out in September and November 2015 by Vanson Bourne on behalf of Sungard Availability Services®. 700 interviews were conducted altogether: 200 from the US, 150 from the UK, 150 from France, and 100 each from Sweden and Ireland. The research spoke to IT decision makers in businesses of over 500 employees across a variety of sectors – including financial services, business process management and retail.

About Sungard Availability Services 
Sungard Availability Services ("Sungard AS") is a leading provider of critical production and recovery services to global enterprise companies. Sungard AS partners with customers across the globe to understand their business needs and provide production and recovery services tailored to help them achieve their desired business outcomes. Leveraging 35 years of experience, Sungard AS designs, builds and runs critical IT services that help customers manage complex IT, adapt quickly and build resiliency and availability.

To learn more, visit www.sungardas.com or call 1-800-468-7483. Connect with us on Twitter @Sungardas, LinkedIn and Facebook.

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