With 2022 ending, it will be interesting to see where companies stand when it comes to cloud computing. Many companies are in the process of accelerating their digital transformations, using AI-driven big data to support their operations and improve their bottom lines. But what infrastructure is truly sticking across industries?
Recently, engineering.com established that multicloud is more than just a buzzword. Companies seem to be maturing their cloud strategies to use either hybrid cloud or multicloud platforms to support their diverse workloads.
As for IBM, the company recently commissioned a Harris Poll report to get a sense of where industries stand when it comes to cloud architecture. “A comparative look at enterprise cloud strategy: IBM Transformation Index: State of Cloud” assesses the current state of cloud adoption across industries and surveyed over 3,000 technical and business professionals from companies with annual revenue over $500 million.
One of the main takeaways from the report? Companies are well aware that a hybrid cloud environment is the future. According to a slide deck on the report, simply titled “IBM Transformation Index: State of Cloud,” an overwhelming 71 percent of respondents agreed that the full potential of a digital transformation could not be reached without a hybrid cloud strategy. Of course, this is not mutually exclusive from a multicloud approach, with companies looking to use public and private solutions from multiple vendors to suit the specific needs of their workloads.
The index is based on the 100-point transformation index that was created as part of the report, and 43 percent of companies scored between 50 and 60 when answering questions about their cloud journey. This means that based on IBM’s metrics, most companies are making modest progress toward a complete transition to the cloud.
Hybrid Cloud Adoption Is Important for Digital Transformation
Interestingly, the full report found that 56 percent of respondents use a hybrid strategy, establishing an ongoing demand for both public and private IT infrastructure. Beyond hybrid cloud, the next leading category was multicloud, with 32 percent of respondents using this strategy.
“The key value of cloud for businesses is rapid access to innovative technologies, data sources and applications required to navigate current disruptions and transform businesses,” says Rick Villars, group vice president of Worldwide Research at IDC. “No individual cloud can address all of an enterprise’s requirements, so they must be able to use and effectively control hybrid cloud assets across many locations.”
Although these results might seem straightforward, they represent the ongoing change in the industry from the initial leap to public cloud platforms to a transition back to more nuanced solutions for different workloads. More and more companies recognize the unique capabilities of private and on-premises infrastructure: increased security, improved latency and easier compliance with complex regulations. So, instead of moving everything to a public cloud, some strategic decisions need to be made in terms of operations, costs and safety to keep specific workloads on private systems. Accordingly, 80 percent of companies are now in the process of transferring some of their public cloud workloads back to private infrastructure.
As previously mentioned, 71 percent of respondents think that it’s difficult to realize the full potential of a digital transformation without having a detailed hybrid cloud strategy. So, whether companies are currently using a hybrid strategy or not, many recognize that the strategy may be their best bet for realizing their business goals in an ever-changing IT environment.
In summary, it seems that both hybrid cloud and multicloud strategies will be here to stay as companies migrate sensitive or complex workloads to private and more customized environments.
Consistent with these results, only 4 percent and 8 percent of companies are relying on either private-only or public-only cloud infrastructure, respectively. Clearly, a single-cloud approach is unpopular and unable to meet the demands of most company infrastructures. The one-size-fits-all approach to cloud computing is no longer the reality for most industries.
Of note, only 27 percent of survey respondents believe that they are “advanced” in their digital transformations. Most companies feel they are still far away from achieving their full cloud-enabled potential. Cloud platforms seem to be recognizing these sentiments, expanding their multicloud and hybrid cloud offerings and focusing on helping companies to evolve their cloud strategy along with their business goals.
Multicloud and Hybrid Cloud Raise Security Concerns
One of the contentious findings of the survey was a continued concern about security and safety when navigating both hybrid and multicloud environments. More than 30 percent of respondents said that security was a top barrier to integrating workloads. Plus, cybersecurity was one of the main obstacles identified as keeping companies from migrating their entire business to the cloud. The survey found that 54 percent of respondents agree that public cloud options are not secure enough for their data.
Security often goes hand in hand with regulatory requirements. For industries such as health care and financial services, meeting regulations can be a big challenge. Unsurprisingly, 53 percent of survey respondents indicated that it was too difficult to comply with regulations on cloud platforms.
“As we see regulatory requirements grow across the globe, compliance is top of mind for business leaders,” said Howard Boville, head of IBM Cloud Platform. “This concern is even greater for those in highly regulated industries. Yet at the same time, they are facing a growing threat landscape—one that demands holistic management of their multicloud environments to avoid the risks of a Frankencloud—an environment that’s so disconnected, it’s difficult to navigate and can be nearly impossible to secure, particularly against third- and fourth-party risks. An integration strategy to bring together these different piece parts is what we believe separates the leaders from the rest of the pack—the alternative is to pay the price of the Frankencloud.”
Recognizing these concerns, companies like IBM are already working on security solutions specifically for the multicloud. Betting on a multicloud future, the goal is to provide services for use across diverse platforms to prevent vendor lock-in and ensure true utility for a multicloud strategy.
Increasingly Complex Cloud Environments Need Expert Skills
Despite the interest in multicloud and the ongoing transformation to hybrid cloud environments, most of the survey respondents, 69 percent, reported “their teams lack skills to be proficient in architecting/managing cloud applications.”
Unfortunately, this inhibits innovation across industries, and more than a third of respondents think this lack of skill keeps them from reaching their cloud goals. Most companies indicate that they will either need to reskill, hire specifically for new skills, or even rely on the gig economy for skilled free agents to assist with cloud deployment and management. This is an ongoing issue that only further exacerbates concerns about security, government compliance and siloed workloads.
To try to make it easier for companies to adopt hybrid and multicloud strategies, several companies are now offering multicloud-specific solutions. SAP and Accenture recently announced a joint offering to support large-scale multicloud operations. Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, Microsoft Azure, Oracle and more also offer solutions specifically for hybrid environments.
The Future Belongs to the Cloud
According to the survey, 86 percent of companies indicate that they have achieved at least the initial benefits of the cloud. But unfortunately, companies still have a long way to go before they can make the most of their cloud strategies. With companies investing in hybrid cloud or multicloud strategies, the future will likely rely on a diverse cloud environment. Using a combination of solutions to support diverse workloads and prevent vendor lock-in will continue to accelerate the digital transformation and ensure that companies can realize the full potential of the cloud.