Affigent & Dell Technologies | Juggling the Cloud: What Are Agencies Learning?

Explore the perceptions of hyper converged infrastructure as agencies juggle more clouds, scale their environments, and work to keep data secure.

Just like there’s rarely a single cloud in the sky, federal agencies are experiencing the same with the growth of cloud computing. What challenges do they face as they keep more clouds in the air? Is Hyper Converged Infrastructure (HCI) – consolidated compute, network, and storage in a software-defined solution – helping to bridge the gap between legacy and cloud environments (public, private, and edge)?

For the “Juggling the Clouds: What Are Agencies Learning?” study, MeriTalk surveyed 150 federal IT decision makers to catalog multi-cloud experiences and challenges. The report explores perceptions of HCI as agencies juggle more clouds, scale their environments, and work to keep federal data secure.

Executive Summary

• Multi-cloud environments are the new normal for federal agencies.
• 81% of federal IT decision makers say their agency uses multiple cloud platforms.
• But, few are confident in their ability to keep all the clouds in the air.
• 75% say managing a multi-cloud environment will be one of their agency’s top challenges over the next five years.
• Just one in five rate the consistency of their multi-cloud environment’s operations and infrastructure as “very good.”
• Feds are looking for tools to help simplify and secure modern environments.
• While just 28% have invested in HCI today, those who have feel significantly better prepared for their agency’s multi-cloud future.
• Agencies using HCI report improved backup and recovery capabilities (48%) and improved data sharing (45%).

Recommendations

• Prepare Your Performers: Federal IT managers view employee training and good communication as two of the most important steps to successfully integrating cloud platforms and legacy infrastructures. Invest in proof of concept projects.
• Emphasize Teamwork: With multi-cloud environments spanning private, public, and edge platforms, interoperability is key. IT leaders need connective, adaptable technologies to avoid data silos.
• Review HCI Impact: Feds with HCI say they are better prepared to manage multi-cloud environments, reporting security and interoperability benefits.