Hybrid Clouds Lead The Way As Digitization, COVID-19 Accelerate IT, Cloud Services Demand In Switzerland

ISG Provider Lens™ report says public cloud and colocation providers are quickly expanding operations and service offerings as Swiss market rises with rest of Europe

IT and cloud services were in high demand in Switzerland throughout 2020 and early 2021 as companies and consumers linked to the Swiss economy continued the digitization of their lives and work environments, according to a new report published today by Information Services Group  a leading global technology research and advisory firm.

Recommended AI News: DFIN Launches ContractTracker for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses

The 2021 ISG Provider Lens™ Next-Gen Private/Hybrid Cloud – Data Center Services & Solutions report for Switzerland finds Swiss companies favor hybrid cloud infrastructures with a large private-cloud element. This approach, the report says, can offer the best of public and private clouds by providing a “single pane of glass” for management and more flexibility and security than pure private clouds. While hybrid implementations have led to unprecedented complexity in some cases, service providers are helping enterprises navigate this challenge.

In Switzerland, as in other European countries, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the growth of cloud services, ISG says.

“Managed services, hosting and colocation providers are playing a bigger role than ever in Switzerland,” said Peter Bertschin, managing director, ISG Switzerland. “They provided the consulting and support midsize companies needed to continue operating through the crisis.”

There are more than 1,000 providers of cloud services and hosting in the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), a market of almost 100 million people that is particularly rich in medium-sized enterprises, with more than 5 million midsize companies and groups, ISG says. Growth here reflects the regional demand for cloud-based services, which hit an all-time high in the first quarter of 2021, according to the EMEA ISG Index™. The overall outsourcing market, including both as-a-service and managed services engagements, grew 20 percent compared with the first quarter of 2020.

Recommended AI News: First Financial Sees 225% Increase in Site Search Usage with Yext Answers

Cloud service providers have expanded their offerings in Switzerland, delivering hybrid cloud solutions on automated central platforms that leverage partnerships with at least one public cloud provider, ISG says. Microsoft Azure, long established in Switzerland and already operating two redundant data centers in Zürich and Geneva, is the most common choice. But other hyperscalers, including Google Cloud and AWS, are also staking claims on the market. Google operates a data center in Zürich and AWS plans to set up three centers by mid-2022.

As in other parts of the DACH region, demand for colocation and connectivity services is high in Switzerland. In just the last 12 months, large colocation providers operating in Zürich have built four new data centers and expanded others, adding 20,000 square meters of space, and more are on the way, ISG reports. Energy efficiency is an increasingly important issue, given that energy costs in Switzerland are among the highest in Europe, so operators are rolling out high-efficiency cooling and uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems.

The 2021 ISG Provider Lens™ Next-Gen Private/Hybrid Cloud – Data Center Services & Solutions report for Switzerland evaluates the capabilities of 80 providers across five quadrants: Managed Services for Large Accounts, Managed Services for Midmarket, Managed Hosting for Large Accounts, Managed Hosting for Midmarket and Colocation Services.

The report names Swisscom as a Leader in all five quadrants. It names EveryWare as a Leader in three quadrants and Atos, Aveniq (Avectris), Bechtle, ELCA Cloud Services, IBM, MTF, ti&m and T-Systems as Leaders in two quadrants each. Accenture, Axians, BitHawk, Equinix, Green, Interxion (Digital Realty), Netcloud, NTS Workspace, NTT Ltd., Safe Host, Trivadis and UMB are named as Leaders in one quadrant each.

In addition, BrainServe, nine and Wipro are named as Rising Stars—companies with a “promising portfolio” and “high future potential” by ISG’s definition—in one quadrant each.

Recommended AI News: Kovack Securities Selects Entreda To Provide Industry-leading Cybersecurity Compliance Platform To Financial Advisors And Registered Representatives