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ISG Research is happy to share insights gleaned from our latest Buyers Guide, an assessment of how well software providers’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements. The Hybrid Cloud Platforms: ISG Research Buyers Guide is the distillation of a year of market and product research by ISG Research.
Hybrid Cloud is rapidly becoming the preferred strategy for enterprises seeking to optimize their IT 
infrastructure by blending the strengths of both Public and Private Cloud models. This versatile approach enables enterprises to harness the scalability of Public Cloud while maintaining the security and control of Private Cloud for sensitive workloads. By strategically distributing resources across different environments, IT leaders can enhance agility and performance, responding swiftly to evolving business needs. As enterprises become more sophisticated in their cloud strategies, the Hybrid Cloud emerges as a crucial enabler for balancing operational efficiency with security and compliance.
ISG Research defines Hybrid Cloud as a combination of elements from both Public and Private Cloud environments, enabling enterprises to optimize their IT strategies. This model facilitates the sharing of data and applications across different platforms, offering scalability and flexibility from the Public Cloud combined with the security and control of the Private Cloud. ISG asserts that by 2027, 7 in 10 enterprises will embrace Hybrid Cloud approaches to blend the benefits of Public and Private Cloud while addressing global regulatory requirements.
Organizations in sectors such as manufacturing, retail and telecommunications are adopting Hybrid Cloud solutions to meet diverse business needs effectively. By balancing their workloads across both environments, enterprises can manage sensitive workloads with greater security while leveraging the Public Cloud for high-volume, less-sensitive data processing. The Hybrid Cloud model enables enterprises to innovate while ensuring they remain compliant with industry regulations, making it an ideal choice for enterprises seeking to maximize their IT investments and enhance operational agility.
The Hybrid Cloud model gained traction in the early 2010s, born from the recognition that a one-size-fits-all approach to cloud technology was inadequate for many enterprises. Businesses realized they could leverage the benefits of Public Cloud for scalability without compromising the data control and security they sought from the Private Cloud. This realization led to the development of hybrid solutions that allow seamless data and application flow across different cloud environments. ISG Market Lens data shows enterprise application adoption across both Public and Private Cloud configurations. Coupled with increased IT spending on cloud services over the past few years, it indicates strong demand for a Hybrid Cloud approach.
From an IT perspective, Hybrid Cloud has evolved into a strategic imperative for enterprises. As technologies like containerization and microservices architecture have matured, they have further enabled enterprises to maximize their investments across multiple cloud platforms. The Hybrid Cloud is now a framework that provides businesses with the agility to respond to market changes while ensuring optimal performance and fulfilling compliance requirements.
Enterprises need to approach the Hybrid Cloud selection process with an understanding of their operational needs and the capabilities of various cloud services. This involves identifying workloads suitable for Public Cloud versus those that require the security and control offered by Private Cloud infrastructures. Enterprises should conduct readiness assessments to analyze their existing applications and data to determine the best deployment strategies.
It is essential to evaluate the integration capabilities of potential Hybrid Cloud providers, as seamless data and application flow between environments is critical for optimizing performance and cost efficiency. Buyers should also seek providers that offer thorough monitoring and management tools, ensuring that they can maintain visibility and control over resources deployed across multiple cloud platforms. Engaging in multi-provider strategies while assessing the potential for provider lock-in will empower enterprises to create flexible and responsive IT ecosystems.
Successful Hybrid Cloud software must provide seamless interoperability between Public and Private Cloud environments. This demands innovative integration tools that facilitate smooth data exchange and application deployment across different platforms while allowing consistent security measures throughout. As enterprises operate within a multi-cloud ecosystem, a strong focus on compatibility with various providers’ services and tools is crucial.
Successful Hybrid Cloud solutions should also incorporate advanced management and orchestration capabilities that empower IT teams to maintain visibility and control over their entire infrastructure, regardless of where workloads are deployed. This includes analytics tools that provide insights into resource usage, costs, and performance metrics. Security and compliance features tailored to the complexities of hybrid environments are also necessary to protect sensitive data and adhere to diverse regulatory requirements. By offering enterprises flexibility, control and comprehensive visibility, Hybrid Cloud solutions can effectively support modern enterprise agility and innovation.
In Hybrid Cloud contexts, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is effectively deployed for application development, enhanced customer experience and cross-platform data integration. Enterprises use GenAI tools to streamline software development processes by automating code generation and testing, which leads to faster delivery of applications across both public and private environments. GenAI aids in personalizing customer interactions by analyzing user behavior data to create tailored recommendations in real time that is accessible through both cloud infrastructures.
One implementation already observed for agentic AI technology in Hybrid Cloud environments is in intelligent workload management and orchestration. By incorporating agentic AI, enterprises can automate the monitoring of resource usage, dynamic allocation of resources across Public and Private Clouds based on workload demands, predict failures and manage compliance and cost considerations. The use of agents could also optimize operations by utilizing AI-driven decision-making processes that predict usage patterns and adjust resource allocations, enhancing both efficiency and cost management. Agentic AI can also facilitate improved data governance by continuously monitoring data compliance across various environments, ensuring that data usage aligns with both security policies and regulatory requirements.
Enterprises exploring software providers for Hybrid Cloud solutions should focus on the integration capabilities and orchestration tools that facilitate the seamless flow of data and applications across multiple environments. It is essential to evaluate providers that offer management platforms that provide visibility and control over cloud resources, enabling enterprises to maintain performance and compliance. Companies should also consider the ease of transitioning between Public and Private Cloud resources to optimize workloads for cost-efficiency and security. Collaborating with internal IT teams and aligning cloud strategies with business goals will empower enterprises to leverage the full potential of Hybrid Cloud solutions in their digital transformation efforts.
The ISG Buyers Guide™ for Hybrid Cloud Platforms evaluates software providers and products in key areas. This includes Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Hybrid Cloud functionality, AI/ML-as-a-Service, Compute-as-a-Service, Data Platform-as-a-Service, Function-as-a-Service, Networking-as-a-Service, Storage-as-a-Service, Cloud Application Marketplace, GenAI and Agentic AI, Global Reach and investment in capabilities. Strategic insights from this guide equip enterprises with the necessary tools to navigate the complexities of Hybrid Cloud adoption and optimize their IT strategies for operational agility.
This research evaluates the following 18 software providers that offer products that address key elements of Hybrid Cloud platforms as we define it: Akamai, Alibaba Cloud, AWS, Baidu AI Cloud, Clever Cloud, DigitalOcean, Google Cloud, IBM, IONOS, Kingsoft, Leaseweb, Microsoft, OpenNebula, Oracle, OVHcloud, Scaleway, Schwarz Digits and T-Systems.
This research-based index evaluates the full business and information technology value of hybrid cloud platforms software offerings. We encourage you to learn more about our Buyers Guide and its effectiveness as a provider selection and RFI/RFP tool.
We urge organizations to do a thorough job of evaluating hybrid cloud platforms offerings in this Buyers Guide as both the results of our in-depth analysis of these software providers and as an evaluation methodology. The Buyers Guide can be used to evaluate existing suppliers, plus provides evaluation criteria for new projects. Using it can shorten the cycle time for an RFP and the definition of an RFI.
The Buyers Guide for Hybrid Cloud Platforms in 2025 finds Microsoft first on the list, followed by Google Cloud and AWS.
Software providers that rated in the top three of any category ﹘ including the product and customer experience dimensions ﹘ earn the designation of Leader.
The Leaders in Product Experience are:
- Microsoft.
- Google Cloud.
- AWS.
The Leaders in Customer Experience are:
- Oracle.
- AWS.
- Google Cloud.
The Leaders across any of the seven categories are:
- Oracle, which has achieved this rating in six of the seven categories.
- AWS and Google Cloud in five categories.
- Microsoft in three categories.
- IBM in two categories.
The overall performance chart provides a visual representation of how providers rate across product and customer experience. Software providers with products scoring higher in a weighted rating of the five product experience categories place farther to the right. The combination of ratings for the two customer experience categories determines their placement on the vertical axis. As a result, providers that place closer to the upper-right are “exemplary” and rated higher than those closer to the lower-left and identified as providers of “merit.” Software providers that excelled at customer experience over product experience have an “assurance” rating, and those excelling instead in product experience have an “innovative” rating.
Note that close provider scores should not be taken to imply that the packages evaluated are functionally identical or equally well-suited for use by every enterprise or process. Although there is a high degree of commonality in how organizations handle hybrid cloud platforms, there are many idiosyncrasies and differences that can make one provider’s offering a better fit than another.
ISG Research has made every effort to encompass in this Buyers Guide the overall product and customer experience from our hybrid cloud platforms blueprint, which we believe reflects what a well-crafted RFP should contain. Even so, there may be additional areas that affect which software provider and products best fit an enterprise’s particular requirements. Therefore, while this research is complete as it stands, utilizing it in your own organizational context is critical to ensure that products deliver the highest level of support for your projects.
You can find more details on our community as well as on our expertise in the research for this Buyers Guide.
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