The Power of Hybrid by Design

Many enterprises recognize that their IT environments will remain diverse in the long run. However, most have optimized their environments independently, leading to a hybrid-by-default approach. This results in a lack of strategic IT foundation, where the elements needed to manage the cloud exist in silos, as described by Deloitte.

Figure 1. Achieving Success in Digital Transformation and Cloud with a Hybrid-First Approach.

Hybrid by design focuses on interoperability at its core, enabling intelligent and intentional integration of technology components both vertically and horizontally. This approach centers on a platforming strategy that fosters common innovation and operational practices. It significantly reduces the complexity of managing a hybrid environment while maximizing its benefits. Figure 1 shows Achieving Success in Digital Transformation and Cloud with a Hybrid-First Approach.

Additionally, enterprises are increasingly adopting approaches like platform engineering, which leverages self-service capabilities and automated infrastructure operations to enhance developer experience and productivity. Platform engineering is often a response to the growing complexity of modern software architectures and hybrid cloud environments.

Business innovation demands that organizations deploy technology wherever it's needed—whether in the cloud, a data center, an edge location, or on a device. Success requires seamless coordination across technical architecture, operations, teams, and culture.

Hybrid by design helps prevent the deployment heterogeneity that leads to technical and operational challenges often seen in hybrid-by-default environments.

The reality is that managing multiple environments introduces complexity that spans data centers, various clouds, existing tech stacks, and teams. However, migrating to the public cloud without improving the platform managing these environments is a recipe for inefficiency and escalating costs.

Hybrid by default’s siloed environments only increase cloud complexity. In this scenario, businesses experience rising costs and miss out on the positive impacts the cloud could offer. It’s like a hotel setting up security cameras without a centralized control room to monitor them all.

Hybrid by design is the ideal methodology for any organization focused on digital transformation, increasing cloud dependence, and the opportunities inherent in artificial intelligence.

For instance, IBM's CIO transformation used hybrid by design as its client-zero strategy, resulting in significant reductions in hosting costs and platform operations headcount. This led to a 90% savings in hosting costs, a 55% reduction in platform operations headcount, and $200M in savings using Apptio’s integrated suite.

An analysis by IBM Consulting of over 50 clients found that those incorporating hybrid-by-design principles achieved three times higher ROI from IT programs over five years. This success was primarily driven by consistency across platforms, processes, and people—a trend expected to be further amplified by the extensive use of generative AI.

The Growing Importance of Generative AI

Generative AI has already proven its value across various use cases, from driving code efficiency to enhancing customer service data analysis and more.

Nearly every software company is now integrating generative AI into its offerings. McKinsey predicts that generative AI will generate trillions of dollars in value, underscoring its growing significance.

It’s evident that generative AI is shaping the daily workflows of knowledge workers across industries. Companies that see it as a mission-critical technology are increasingly looking to diversify the generative AI vendors they collaborate with.

According to Menlo Ventures, the average company now uses at least three foundation models in their AI stacks. As domain-specific vertical models continue to mature, they will only expand these stacks. This trend shows no signs of slowing. To fully capitalize on the multimodal generative AI movement, companies must adopt a hybrid-by-design approach.

Some companies are already ahead of the curve in this regard. The IBM Institute for Business Value reports that 68% of hybrid cloud adopters have implemented formal, organization-wide policies to guide their generative AI strategies.

How to Create a Hybrid-By-Design Methodology

Secure Clear Buy-In from the Top

For significant technological and operational change to take place, it’s essential that the entire organization moves together. Executive leadership must not only understand the hybrid-by-design approach but also endorse the changes to organizational strategy, roles, and responsibilities. This alignment is crucial before any meaningful work can begin.

Score Yourself on Your Existing Hybrid Status

Each organization's journey to hybrid by design is unique, starting from different places. Conducting due diligence to understand what technologies are in use and what policies are in place is key to moving forward. This assessment should include on-premises infrastructure, cloud services, legacy systems, and emerging technologies. Mapping out the existing architecture helps identify gaps that need addressing.

Build a Vision or Target Architecture and Operations

Hybrid by design requires deep strategic thinking and planning. The CIO, together with business stakeholders, should develop a clear vision for the future hybrid environment. This vision must align with broader business objectives, scalability, security, cost-efficiency, and agility. A successful hybrid-by-design methodology enhances security, improves efficiency, and reduces costs, guiding necessary changes to the tech stack, personnel, and future resource investments.

Clean Up Technical Heterogeneity

Starting with a quick win can demonstrate the value of the hybrid-by-design approach to the rest of the organization. A successful initial project allows the business to visualize what success looks like and shows how a broader transition to hybrid by design can deliver substantial benefits.

Hybrid by Design Builds on Well-Orchestrated Open Ecosystems

To leverage generative AI and other digital advancements effectively, organizations must rethink how they collaborate with external partners to execute the hybrid-by-design approach successfully.

Move from Procurement to Partnership

The technology providers you choose are crucial partners in unlocking the potential of the cloud. Focus on vendors who understand your business and can bring value through collaboration, not just a low-cost solution. Reverting to an old mentality of simply selecting the cheapest option is no longer enough.

Make Collaboration the Rule

Treat your technology providers as partners, not just vendors. Integrate them into your teams and collaborate on simplifying the complexity in your environment. When providers are seen as ecosystem partners, they work side by side with your organization to solve problems and create value.

Align with Partners Around Shared Objectives

Establish true partnerships by combining service-level agreements (SLAs) with shared objectives and key results (OKRs) that go beyond uptime maintenance. This approach creates aligned incentives for business transformation. Partners who are only focused on uptime or avoid responsibility for business goals are not the right fit for critical projects like this.

Embrace Open Source

Open-source technology is central to hybrid by design. IBM has long championed the power of open source, highlighted by its acquisition of Red Hat® in 2019. Open source brings significant advantages for managing hybrid environments, promoting flexibility, scalability, and innovation. It fosters collaboration across distributed teams, driving faster development cycles and greater innovation.

Leading Enterprises Use the IBM Approach to Hybrid by Design

IBM Consulting®’s hybrid-by-design methodology helps organizations accelerate their migration, modernization, and innovation efforts with low risk while driving business value, productivity, and cost reductions across the cloud. This approach makes cloud management more efficient and effective, helping enterprises avoid the inefficiencies and spiraling costs often associated with cloud environments.

Source: IBM

Cite this article:

Priyadharshini S (2025), "Achieving Success in Digital Transformation and Cloud with A Hybrid-By-Design Approach",Anatechmaz ,pp.129