Every year Gartner looks at emerging technologies and does a reality check on those technologies and plots how far they are away from the mainstream. In this years’ reality check, Gartner has looked at hybrid cloud computing and finds that it still not up to scratch. In fact, hybrid is in exactly the same place as it was a year ago according to Gartner.
For those not familiar with the Hype Cycle here’s a quick crash course. As new technologies appear they come into Gartner’s Hype Cycle in the Innovation Trigger phase, this is normally where the press and media start the long process of hype. This then moves on to the Peak of Inflated Expectations which is where businesses start to take notice and start to kick the tires. As a consequence of this tire kicking many decide that indeed the technology was just hype, which is where technologies enter into our favourite phase the Trough of Disillusionment. At the end of a very long drop businesses start to realise that actually there was something in what the media have been harping on about, and the technology swiftly moves into the mainstream a.k.a. the Slope of Enlightenment. Hybrid cloud is currently in a trough and according to Gartner’s cycle it will be another 2 to 5 years before it moves into the mainstream, which to us seems a little pessimistic.
Betsy Burton, VP and distinguished analyst at Gartner said of the Hype Cycle. "This year, we encourage CIOs and other IT leaders to dedicate time and energy focused on innovation, rather than just incremental business advancement, while also gaining inspiration by scanning beyond the bounds of their industry."
As far as we’re concerned hybrid is here now and in our talks with vendors and cloud customers that’s the impression we get, and we don’t hear too many people contradicting that view. However, we are prepared to admit that perhaps we see some of the most enlightened businesses here on CCI.
According to Bell Integration’s CTO Andy Soanes Gartner is spot on. “Gartner is right to say hybrid cloud is still five years away from hitting a plateau of productivity: businesses are still finding the hybrid cloud sweet spot. Concerns about loss of control mean organisations are unlikely to jump in with both feet and follow Netflix’s recent move to placing almost all IT services on public cloud servers.”
As Soanes explains finding that sweet spot can be extremely difficult. “business must be able to identify its ‘crown jewels’: those applications where failure, or losing control of data, would have catastrophic consequences. On the other hand, IT should be wary of excessive caution; keeping applications in-house when it no longer benefits the business to do so. Losing control of an application, or putting the organisation at risk or failing compliance, is an understandable worry.”
Interestingly there have been several technologies that have dropped off the emerging technologies map. Last year big data was just entering the Trough of disillusionment with the mainstream still 5 to 10 years off, and cloud computing was just about to enter the Slope of Enlightenment with the mainstream 2 to 5 years away, both technologies and now no longer on the Hype Cycle. Make of that what you want. Additionally on last year’s cycle the Internet of Things was 5 to 10 years away and was entering ‘peak hype,’ it is still in the same position this year.
