Hybrid Cloud is the New Normal: 3 Strategies for Seamless Management

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Key Takeaways

• Hybrid cloud adoption is accelerating in the United Kingdom, 92% of organisations now using hybrid/multi-cloud.
• Without unified management, cost overruns and governance gaps become major challenges in hybrid setups.
• Implementing governance and workload optimisation is essential to control cloud spend and performance.
• Security and data-compliance must span on-prem, private, public, and edge environments for true hybrid resilience.
• Hybrid Cloud Management and Microsoft 365 Services deliver a seamless, managed path into the hybrid era.

Introduction

The hybrid cloud is no longer an emerging trend; it has become the new foundation of enterprise IT. Businesses in the United Kingdom are rapidly adopting digital transformation. Meanwhile, they are realising that a hybrid cloud strategy, blending on-premises infrastructure with private and public clouds, delivers the perfect balance between agility, control, and scalability.

Gartner predicts that 90% of organizations will adopt a hybrid cloud approach through 2027! Yet, while this cloud enables innovation, it also introduces challenges — from managing complex workloads to ensuring governance, cost efficiency, and security across distributed environments.

That’s where Fortray, a leading Managed IT Services Provider (MSP) in the UK, helps enterprises and SMEs navigate complexity with end-to-end Hybrid Cloud Management and Microsoft 365 Management. These solutions are designed for seamless operation, resilience, and compliance.

Why Hybrid Cloud Is the New Normal for Businesses Worldwide?

In today’s economy, hybrid is not just the future; it’s the competitive standard!

The end-user spending on public cloud services worldwide is projected to be around $723.4 billion by the end of 2025, up from $595.7 billion in 2024, according to the latest forecast from Gartner. The cloud computing market is projected to grow from $46.30 billion in 2025 to $603.38 billion by 2032 in the United Kingdom alone.

The reasons are clear:

• Businesses seek data sovereignty and regulatory compliance in line with GDPR in the United Kingdom.
• Hybrid work models demand seamless access and collaboration.
• The need for resilience and disaster recovery requires multi-cloud redundancy.

However, the path to hybrid success is not without friction. Multiple vendors, siloed tools, and inconsistent policies can lead to inefficiency, risk, and higher costs.

Recommended Reading: Managed Cloud vs Managed IT: What’s Right for Your Business in 2025?

Strategy 1: Unified Management & Visibility Across Hybrid Environments

The Challenge: Fragmented Systems and Blind Spots

The hybrid environment may span on-prem servers, Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, and SaaS platforms. Without centralised visibility, IT teams struggle with monitoring, performance, and security gaps. In fact, over 70% of enterprises in the United Kingdom cite a lack of visibility as a top hybrid challenge.

The Solution: Single Pane of Glass

Unified management tools consolidate control of all environments, giving IT leaders a single dashboard for health, cost, security, and compliance. The Hybrid Cloud Management platform provides real-time insights into workloads, applications, and network performance, enabling proactive issue resolution and resource optimisation.

Use Case

One London-based technology firm integrated three public-cloud providers and an on-prem data centre under Fortray’s management framework. The result: a 30% reduction in operational overhead and improved SLA response times.

Below are the actionable steps:

1. Audit your current hybrid architecture; identify tools, data flows, and dependencies.
2. Adopt a unified management solution or MSP partner like Fortray.
3. Define KPIs (uptime, cost per workload, utilisation, incident frequency) to measure ongoing performance.

Strategy 2: Governance, Cost & Workload Optimisation  

The Challenge: Managing Costs in a Multi-Cloud World

The average enterprise wastes 32% of its cloud spend due to poor governance. Hybrid environments exacerbate this with multiple billing systems, overlapping resources, and shadow IT usage.

The Solution: Smart Governance & FinOps Practices

Fortray helps UK organisations enforce cloud governance, tagging, and workload right-sizing through its Hybrid Cloud Management service. This ensures accountability, transparency, and cost efficiency. By implementing FinOps frameworks, Fortray (MSP based in London, UK) aligns cloud consumption with business value, so you only pay for what drives growth.

Use Case

One UK retail chain partnered with Fortray to optimise its hybrid cloud workloads. Within a year, it cut its cloud spend by 25% and reduced storage redundancy by 40%.

Below are the actionable steps:

1. Tag all cloud resources and map workloads by business priority and compliance.
2. Adopt a cost-governance tool or managed FinOps service for continuous optimisation.
3. Regularly review workload placement, keeping sensitive data on private clouds and migrating scalable apps to public ones.

Strategy 3: Secure, Compliant & Seamless Hybrid Workloads 

The Challenge: Expanding Attack Surface

Hybrid cloud introduces multiple entry points for cybercriminals. From identity theft to data breaches, misconfigurations remain the leading cause of incidents. IBM cloud security statistics studies show that the average total cost of a data breach is USD 4.35 million, more than single-cloud or on-premises models.

The Solution: Consistent Security & Compliance Framework

By analysing user habits and access behaviour, Fortray identifies unusual login times, location anomalies, or suspicious data downloads. This proactive approach enables early containment before damage occurs.

24/7 Monitoring via SOC-as-a-Service

Fortray combines Microsoft 365 Management with Hybrid Cloud Security to enforce zero-trust principles, multi-factor authentication, and real-time monitoring across cloud and on-premises assets. This integrated approach ensures end-to-end protection for emails, files, applications, and data flows — critical for GDPR, ISO 27001, and NIS2 compliance.

Use Case

One of the elite UK healthcare organisations partnered with Fortray to secure Microsoft 365 and cloud storage. The result: 40% fewer security incidents and a full regulatory compliance audit pass within six months.

Below are the actionable steps:

1. Define a security baseline across all hybrid components, including identity, network, and data protection.
2. Implement unified access management and continuous threat detection through Fortray’s managed security services.
3. Regularly test backup and disaster recovery plans to ensure business continuity.

Recommended Reading: Beyond Phishing: The New Wave of ‘Human-Centric’ Cyber Threats

Bringing It All Together — End-to-End Hybrid Cloud with Fortray

Fortray enables businesses to embrace hybrid cloud without complexity. From unified visibility and cost governance to Microsoft 365 integration and cybersecurity, Hybrid Cloud Management Services are built to scale with your business, securely and cost-effectively. If you’re a growing SME or a multi-site enterprise, Fortray ensures your hybrid infrastructure delivers maximum value, performance, and security.

Conclusion

The hybrid cloud is no longer a stopgap between on-prem and public cloud; it’s the core of modern IT strategy. With the right management, governance, and security in place, businesses can leverage hybrid cloud to drive innovation and cost efficiency without compromise. Fortray empowers that journey — helping organisations transition to the hybrid era with confidence, clarity, and control.

Talk to our Cloud Experts Today and discover how Fortray can help you build a resilient, future-ready hybrid cloud ecosystem.

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