New work models: Hybrid workplaces drive hybrid cloud adoption

The business and consumer landscapes have evolved tremendously over the last two years, ranging from the way consumers interact with businesses, to how organisations manage operations and deliver value in today’s remote environment. We have witnessed an acceleration in the adoption of new-age technologies, a result of increased demand by businesses prioritising streamlined operations, better speed to market, and seamless digital experiences for customers. Additionally, this has led to an increased focus on a robust IT infrastructure.

According to Gartner estimates, worldwide IT spending is projected to grow to $4.5 trillion in 2022, a 5.5% increase from 2021—said to be the highest YoY growth in the last decade. “Moving forward in 2022, we will continue to see an accelerated rate of digitisation and virtualisation of business and society; and as digital continues to gain momentum, one of the most impacted sectors will be the hybrid workplace,” says Sumir Bhatia, president – APAC, Lenovo Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG).

According to the LinkedIn Future of Work Survey, 86% of Indian professionals believe that the hybrid work model will provide them with an opportunity to strike a balance between their professional and personal lives. Such flexibility in working, innovating, and collaborating from anywhere and on your own appropriate time is on the horizon of digital transformation. “The hybrid workplace is poised to be the next big disruption. Hence, it will be important for CXOs and ITDMs to strengthen their IT infrastructure to enable unified experiences that positively impact a business and its workforce. For a seamless transition to a hybrid work model, CXOs will need to ensure that businesses have flexibility, on-demand support, and customisable solutions across the organisation. More importantly, it will be important for CXOs to strengthen their IT infrastructure to enable these seamless digital workplace experiences.” says Bhatia.

Such a unified experience in a hybrid work model commands an infrastructure that can seamlessly manage data, applications, and workloads between connected computing environments—hybrid cloud will provide businesses with this opportunity. “A hybrid cloud approach enables businesses to combine several strengths and reduce complexities such as legacy system modernisation, limited IT management support, capital expenditure implications, etc., to further deliver an optimum experience,” he adds.

Furthermore, Bhatia outlines how hybrid cloud will help businesses in 2022:

Flexibility: Deployment of hybrid cloud will only accelerate workflows, strengthen workforce collaboration, and improve budget flexibility for further infrastructural investments. Such flexibility is known to improve efficiency, lower costs, and enhance business agility.

Interoperability: Hybrid cloud strategy offers interoperability across on-site and cloud infrastructure making work environments more reliable through multiple deployments and backups that continue providing accessibility in case of obstacles.

Resource Optimisation: A hybrid cloud strategy can help businesses continue leveraging their existing legacy systems by making their system and data accessible in the cloud through hybrid integration.

Security: According to a new report, 99% of Indians moved to use varied combinations of hybrid cloud amid the rise of cyberattacks. With hybrid cloud, organisations will be able to enhance data protection and security to de-risk businesses by helping mitigate security-related challenges attributed to cybercriminal activities.

Scalability: Hybrid cloud adoption will ensure business scalability by opening doors to access unlimited resources to grow operations and infrastructure while capitalising on and integrating with existing infrastructure, thereby enabling cost-effectiveness.

In conclusion, Bhatia expresses that as the world continues to undergo rapid digital transformation, the potential for India to become one of the leading digital players is both exciting and believable. “India Inc’s overall focus will be to integrate digital technology within businesses and the society to make a significant impact on future digital world trends. As we see businesses striving to grow themselves in a digital economy that is bouncing back, we believe that in 2022 enterprises will increasingly focus on implementing technological solutions such as hybrid cloud for better business growth in a hybrid workplace; and the role of IT infrastructure solutions will be crucial in enabling these organisations to achieve their business goals,” he adds.