Businesses around the world understand the importance of storing, sharing and securing data. Many companies are turning to public cloud technology to do this without incurring unnecessary cost or PR.
Contino recently released a study that explored the relationship between modern enterprises and their use of the public cloud. You can read the full report at www.contino.io/insights/infographic-public-cloud-report-2020.
What the Survey Covers
The study accessed 250 IT experts who regularly make key decisions for companies across the United States, Europe and APAC. Everyone who partook in the survey that was carried out early this year is employed at businesses with over 5,000 members. The research aimed to examine the many ways that companies are using cloud-native technologies.
Considering the unpredictable nature of the world’s economy, it’s only right that we are experiencing a trend of decreasing spending in IT. However, major IT companies seem to be spending even more on cloud than ever. Some points can be highlighted from a brief review of Contino’s report to explain this relationship and more.
Here are some of the major points:
Several companies are using the public cloud
About 77% of the IT professionals said that they had begun using the cloud in one way or the other, and exactly half of them were utilizing a hybrid cloud. Only 22% of the respondents said that their companies are implementing a single private cloud with only 7% of them going for a single public cloud. About 20% of the businesses are utilizing multi-cloud while only a tiny fraction (1%) are employing on-premise solutions for their businesses.
Businesses rarely conduct public cloud programs
Only 13% of the respondents have a complete public cloud program. Among those who do, only 42% of their businesses implement it for multiple projects. Not even up to a quarter of the respondents have made considerable progress with their application of the public cloud while 18% of them have finished developing the program.
A major concern for businesses with the public is in security & compliance
In the study, almost half (48%) of the respondents cited the security of the public cloud as the major concern they have in implementing it. And 37% of businesses view compliance as a major barrier for using the system.
There were other concerns raised about the public cloud system. About a third of companies in the research explained that they lacked the skill and purchasing power to go ahead with it. They added that they faced challenges in integrating it with their existing system too. However, 19% of the respondents expressed their need for proper leadership in their IT companies to provide sufficient resources for implementing the public cloud
Vendor lock-in is a major challenge for many businesses
63% of IT professionals responded that they were either ‘somewhat’ or ‘very much afraid of making the commitment to invest in the cloud. 23% of respondents declared that they were ‘not afraid of being locked in and 5% stated their confidence in simply having no fear at all of being locked in.
While some companies are showcasing that fear of lock in is a barrier to entry and preventing businesses migrating to the cloud, the fact that 77% of organizations still actively use the cloud and are happy in doing so means that the risk is outweighed by the benefits when it comes to using the cloud and being locked in.
Public cloud is just as secure as on-premises
As mentioned earlier, security seems to be the main issue for many companies looking to switch to the public cloud system. Nonetheless, the majority (64%) of the respondents consider it to be more secure than on-premises. Only about one-third through the security levels of the two systems were similar while 7% considered the public cloud to be riskier.
The Public Cloud packs plenty of benefits
Mostly all (99%) of the respondents listed several technical benefits that the public cloud is providing for their companies. Some of these benefits mentioned include efficiency, agility and scalability. All the respondents reported experiencing several other benefits since they switched from on-premises to the public cloud. 72% of businesses found compliance with their data easier while only 4% thought it became confusing.
Cloud is pushing innovation
The research showed that 81% of IT experts have witnessed increased innovations in their companies with the use of the cloud. There was no report of the public cloud inhibiting innovation in the companies. While 5% of the respondents found that implementing the public cloud increased spending, 79% of them said it helped their organizations save money. Also, the majority of the companies are looking to expand their cloud programmes.
Location may not matter much in the expansion of cloud programmes
One more thing that the research showed was that the location of businesses had nothing to do with their cloud extension programs. Most companies based their cloud-related decisions on the nature and objectives of each organization that drove decisions regarding the cloud.
In sum, the majority of companies have now implemented the public cloud into their system one way or another. Contino’s study showed that many companies are sticking with it for the foreseeable future to experience more of its benefits.
