Marching Orders 2014: Service Providers Should Go Hybrid
Marco Limena, vice president of Hosting Service Providers at Microsoft, recently shared his insights on what partners should do to better position themselves in the new year as part of RCP's annual "Marching Orders" feature.
Earlier this year at our Hosting Summit, I shared research that revealed a shift in customer demand when it comes to cloud infrastructures. According to the 451 Group, in the next two years, 68 percent of customers plan to adopt hybrid cloud models. That's an increase of nearly 20 percent from today. This shift is driven by an increased customer demand for cloud solutions that will help them grow their business or realign their organizations.
In looking at this data, there's no denying we're entering the era of hybrid cloud. Now is the time for service providers to begin building and deploying hybrid clouds that meet customer demands and allow them to move between on-premises solutions, the public cloud and service provider clouds.
Microsoft is focused on providing the resources and support to enable hosters to take advantage of this new era. We've built out a portfolio of products to support this effort, including infrastructure solutions such as Windows Server, Systems Center, SQL Server and Windows Azure, as well as applications such as Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, Office and Office 365.
All of the pieces are in place. I'm looking forward to seeing how our community of hosting partners will capitalize on this opportunity.
Posted on December 23, 2013