By: Shant Soghomonian (@ShantS_AU) is Director of Specialty Channel Sales at EMC responsible for the Asia Pacific and Japan markets.

Cloud is born to rule the IT world and it is here to stay for a very long time.

We have heard of the different cloud computing models of public, private and hybrid. However, what are the major considerations for CIOs when adopting the right cloud computing models for the long haul, in coping with the increasing demands of business users and exploding data volumes?

CIOs predicate meaningful IT investments on the organization’s business focus and demands. However, syncretism in the organization driven by IT providers and business users doesn’t help in defining the right cloud strategy either.

According to Gartner, hybrid cloud is the new kid on the block and is turning enterprise IT into a hybrid IT organization (“Hybrid Cloud is Driving the Shift from Control to Coordination”, Gartner Research, Sep 2013). Enterprise IT is losing control of the IT function within the organization as business users or consumers buy public cloud services from multiple service providers, bypassing IT. Business users often cite reasons such as the lack of IT support, unreasonably long gestation period for IT service fulfillment and cost. How should CIOs strengthen its IT function and win back business users’ confidence?

I don’t think the answer simply lies with putting in place a layer of governance and restricting business users from deploying their own public cloud infrastructure outside the confines of IT management. CIOs need to revisit their cloud strategy every 3 to 5 years and adapt to the changing IT and business needs of the organization.

The hybrid IT model promotes the concept of enterprise IT adopting a multiservice operation that consists of the pooling of public, private and/or non-cloud services and providing value to business users as a trusted service broker instead of the “break-fix” IT model. This requires a considerable breakaway from a coterie’s mindset in adopting a pro-business IT model and putting into reality, the framework for Infrastructure-as-a-service model with emphasis on people and process.

EMC Business Partners are set to gain from the increase in hybrid cloud adoption among enterprise IT. As a trusted IT advisor, now is the time to have a hybrid cloud conversation with your customers in shaping their hybrid IT structure. And what’s more with EMC’s Hybrid Cloud solutions, including proven cloud backup solutions for private cloud deployment and cloud service providers for public cloud deployment, the vision and goal for becoming a hybrid IT organization is not just a far-fetched and cloudy ambition. 

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