ISG to Study Providers of Private, Hybrid Cloud Services, Solutions

Upcoming ISG Provider Lens report will evaluate providers helping enterprises modernize core IT environments, often through AI-enabled capabilities

ISG announced that it has launched research studies examining providers of private and hybrid cloud data center services and solutions that support enterprises’ data-intensive and AI-driven workloads.

The results of the studies will be published in a series of comprehensive ISG Provider Lens reports: Private/Hybrid Cloud — Data Center Services, with individual reports covering eight geographic markets, and Private/Hybrid Cloud — Data Center Solutions, covering the global market. All are scheduled to be released in June 2026.

Enterprise buyers will be able to use information from the reports to evaluate their current vendor relationships, potential new engagements and available offerings, while ISG advisors use the information to recommend providers to the firm’s buy-side clients.

AI is being integrated across on-premises and private, hybrid and public cloud infrastructure as companies shift enterprise operations from reactive maintenance to more predictive and automated management. As a result, organizations are reassessing where their workloads run, often favoring hybrid environments to address performance, risk and regulatory needs. Sustainability is also shaping enterprises’ IT infrastructure decisions as providers use AI to improve efficiency and limit the energy impact of growing AI workloads.

“Enterprises are upgrading and transforming their core IT environments and operating models,” said Heiko Henkes, managing director, ISG Provider Lens Research. “To support these initiatives, providers are using AI for operations automation, capacity planning, improved monitoring and security and other functions.”

ISG has distributed surveys to more than 100 providers of private/hybrid cloud services. Working in collaboration with ISG’s global advisors, the research team will produce four quadrants representing the typical private/hybrid cloud services enterprises are buying, based on ISG’s experience working with its clients. The four quadrants are:

• AI-ready Infrastructure Managed Services, evaluating providers of managed services for private and hybrid cloud and data center environments that enable continuous optimization and reliable operation. These providers assume end-to-end responsibility for operating, automating, and transforming infrastructure across their clients' data centers.
• Managed Cloud Hosting and Resilient Infrastructure Services, assessing providers delivering enterprise-grade managed cloud hosting and resilient infrastructure services. They are assessed based on their ability to deliver services through their own or third-party colocation facilities and support business continuity with disaster recovery capabilities.
• Sustainable Colocation Services, covering colocation providers offering secure data center facilities for the computing hardware of enterprises. These providers ensure sustainability by deploying renewable energy, implementing energy-efficient cooling systems and adopting circular economy practices such as e-waste recycling.
• Edge Computing Services, evaluating providers that design, deploy and manage edge computing infrastructure and services. They are evaluated on their ability to integrate edge computing solutions using modular hardware and software components and provide energy-efficient, resilient hardware optimized for edge sites.

Geographically focused reports from the study will cover the global private/hybrid cloud — data center market and examine products and services available in the U.S., Brazil, France, Germany, the Nordics, Switzerland, U.K. and the U.S. Public Sector. ISG analysts Shashank Rajmane (U.S. and U.S. Public Sector), Meenakshi Srivastava (U.K. and Nordics), Manoj M (France), Pedro L. Bicudo Maschio (Brazil and France), and Ulrich Meister and Wolfgang Heinhaus (Germany and Switzerland) will serve as authors of the reports.

ISG has also distributed surveys to more than 30 providers of private/hybrid cloud and data center solutions. This report will include two quadrants:

• Hybrid Cloud Operations Platforms (AIOPs Enabled), covering providers of integrated platforms for operating, orchestrating and optimizing cloud environments. These providers are evaluated in part on their ability to support AI-enabled operations, with benefits including correlation of events across infrastructure layers and reduced alert fatigue and.
• Resiliency Platforms, evaluating providers of AI-powered systems for backup, disaster recovery and cyber resilience across all types of cloud environments. These enable fault-tolerant operations that ensure business continuity in the event of power outages, cybersecurity incidents or performance degradation.

The solutions report will cover the global private/hybrid cloud — data center market and examine solutions available globally. ISG analyst Shashank Rajmane will serve as lead author of the report.

A list of identified private/hybrid cloud service providers and further details on the services study are available in this digital brochure. Further details on the solutions study are available in this brochure. Companies not listed in the brochures can contact ISG and ask to be included in the studies.

All 2026 ISG Provider Lens® evaluations feature expanded customer experience (CX) data that measures actual enterprise experience with specific provider services and solutions, based on ISG’s continuous CX research.

Source: ISG media announcement