Hybrid is no longer a buzzword – it’s the reality for modern data centers. In a recent study conducted by Futurum Research, in partnership with Nokia, almost every IT organization surveyed reported using a mix of on-premises and cloud infrastructure. In fact, 79% of respondents operate on-prem data centers for internal needs and 65% also leverage public cloud services (see Figure 1). This means the vast majority of enterprises now run hybrid environments – combining private and public infrastructure to meet their requirements. It’s a logical evolution: Certain workloads remain on dedicated enterprise servers, while others take advantage of cloud scalability and services. The result is a “best of both worlds” approach that has become standard in data center strategy.

Hybrid is the new norm

Survey data confirms that hybrid architectures are firmly entrenched. Nearly eight in ten IT leaders say they maintain on-premises facilities alongside cloud platforms. Many organizations are even in the data center business themselves – over half of respondents (54%) are cloud, SaaS, hosting, or colocation providers who manage data centers as a revenue-generating service (see Figure 1). This underscores how pervasive hybrid IT has become. Whether you’re a bank with a private cloud and AWS instances, or a SaaS provider with global colocation sites, operating in multiple environments is now the default. The survey’s bottom line: hybrid infrastructure “is the norm for modern enterprises.”

Figure 1. Which statements describe your organization’s data center networking infrastructure?

Source: The Data Center Network Imperative: Key Trends Driving the Next Era of Data Centers, Futurum Research,
September 2025.

For IT professionals, this reality brings both opportunities and challenges. On one hand, hybrid setups offer flexibility; you can choose the optimal environment (on-prem or cloud) for each application. On the other hand, it introduces management, integration and networking complexity. Ensuring consistency across on-prem networks and cloud services becomes vital. Notably, 98% of surveyed companies have infrastructure in North America (the primary region for most), but a sizable subset also operates globally. This geographic spread further complicates operations, reinforcing why advanced tools and automation (more on that later) are needed to manage a hybrid footprint at scale.

Modernization in full swing

Widespread hybrid adoption has gone hand-in-hand with aggressive modernization of data center technology. When asked to self-assess their environment, two-thirds of IT leaders described their data center stack as either “very modern” or even “cutting-edge.” In concrete terms, 43% say their infrastructure is “very modern” and another 21% claim it’s “state-of-the-art” – leveraging cloud-native designs, high automation and AI-driven operations. Only a small minority (~9%) admit their setup is significantly outdated. This is a striking indicator that most enterprises believe they’re far along the modernization curve.

What does “modern” mean in practice? It implies using newer technologies like software-defined networking, hyper-converged hardware, automation platforms and cloud integrations. The survey data suggests that companies have been steadily upgrading or replacing legacy systems to stay current. Essentially, if your data center isn’t modernized, you’re in the minority. For CIOs and data center managers, there’s an implicit competitive pressure here: Peers are investing in cutting-edge capabilities and falling behind could impact reliability or efficiency.

The bottom line

Hybrid architectures and modern tech upgrades are now the standard in enterprise data centers. Organizations should plan for a distributed, multi-environment future – one where on-prem and cloud systems co-exist and need to work in harmony. This means prioritizing interoperability and management tools that span across environments. It’s also wise to highlight modernization in your IT strategy: if your team considers your infrastructure “modern,” ensure your processes and vendors keep pace. The survey results reinforce that embracing hybrid IT and continuous modernization isn’t just an option, but a baseline expectation. In short: assume a hybrid, modernized data center reality and strategize accordingly. By doing so, you’ll be better equipped to manage complexity without sacrificing reliability, which is crucial in this new norm of hybrid IT.

This blog post is number 2 in a series of 5. To see the other posts, visit this page.

You can also find results from the full study here.