When talking with customers, it is rare when I encounter one who is "all in" with private or "all-in" with public cloud.   Customers have come to realize that a single platform cannot deliver all the capabilities required by application, business and IT teams.  Developers want self-service and fast access to cloud infrastructure.  IT needs control and the adherence to both your company's as well as regulatory guidelines and policies.

As more applications move to the cloud, companies are seeking a solution that delivers choice of cloud platforms ensuring the best price/performance for all workloads while meeting the needs of customers. The result is the rise of hybrid cloud.

This is not a new "as a service" delivery model or a new type of cloud.   Hybrid cloud involves having the technology and operational processes to accommodate the placement of any workload into any environment. In essence, it is a way to transform your organization from the 196 manual trouble ticket process to an automated method of delivering choice of platform and workload placement.

Hybrid cloud does have a few drawbacks:

1. Cloud platforms are infrastructure-focused which forces development teams to code to the whims and capabilities of that platform's infrastructure.   Development teams need to become well versed on the nuisances of that platform's infrastructure - something they are not keen to do.
2. Development teams require friction-less access to multiple clouds which results in high development, update and maintenance costs for infrastructure-centric solutions.  The duplicity comes in the need to maintain multiple code streams for a single application to accommodate the infrastructure APIs associated with that platform.
3. IT is responsible for the care, feeding and performance of these environments as well as ensuring compliance to company policies.   Today, this is a process that slows down the application life cycle and development process.

At its core, a hybrid solution is about automation which orchestrates the execution of tasks and enforcement of policies across a range of data center, private and public platforms.   Does such a solution exist?  YES! 

Cisco CloudCenter delivers the friction-less access developers desire to over 19 different data center, private or public environments.   Watch this video to learn more.

 https://youtu.be/r9u01S2ALW8

Abstracting applications from infrastructure relieves the frustration developers experience as well as the cost associated with infrastructure-centric solutions. CloudCenter utilizes application profiles which contain the DNA of the infrastructure setup and configuration, scaling capabilities, budgetary or time limits as well as usage rules.  Say good-bye to the wrangling and filling out of forms required by IT. Developers are free to work on the platform of their choice without IT getting in the way. IT remains in compliance and control - but in a stealthy way.  Everyone is happy!

Take the next step to go deeper with Cisco CloudCenter with this overview and see how hybrid cloud deployment can transform your business.