HotLink, a Silicon Valley startup that has developed a platform for heterogeneous and hybrid computing infrastructure, has the CIOs of Facebook, Clorox, Citrix Systems, BMC Software, Flextronics, and Electronic Arts on its advisory board.

FORBES: CIOs and Start-Ups: a Natural Fit

In addition, IBM said it is piloting a next-generation service platform, displaying public, private and hybrid enterprise computing models.

FORBES: IBM's Business Cloud Gets Real

If this were truly a hybrid system, any change you made on any platform would automatically sync to the other.

FORBES: More Thoughts On Google Drive - A Hybrid of Cloud Storage and Computing

If you consider SharePoint as an operating system for the enterprise and allow business people to exploit the platform, embrace the ideals of the App Store, using hybrid deployments with integration to cloud solutions (Office365 I think is a killer app here) then it is possible to have the best of both worlds.

FORBES: Microsoft's SharePoint Social Business Strategy Will Sell But It Will Not Be Sweet

Using the BAH study as a guide, and assuming that community cloud economies mimic those expected from a hybrid cloud, transitioning IT services from an agency-owned IT infrastructure to the GSA IaaS platform should deliver benefit cost ratios of approximately 7:1.

FORBES: The Economic Benefit of Cloud Computing

In hybrid form, a private cloud can include data stored on premise or off, with a private Platform-as-a-Service middleware layer managing application data and enforcing data security.

FORBES: The Data Protection And Security Case For Private Clouds