Cloud-First IT Strategies Are Uncommon

Datamation content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.

The cloud computing market may be firing on all cylinders, but not all enterprises are reaping the rewards.

Nutanix today released the results of a new survey of 400 European IT leaders conducted by Quocirca, suggesting a significant disconnect between the cloud’s explosive growth and the value businesses are deriving from it. Hailing from Germany, France, the Netherlands and the UK, the respondents revealed that the cloud migration journey isn’t without its pitfalls.

Cloud Storage and Backup Benefits

Protecting your company’s data is critical. Cloud storage with automated backup is scalable, flexible and provides peace of mind. Cobalt Iron’s enterprise-grade backup and recovery solution is known for its hands-free automation and reliability, at a lower cost. Cloud backup that just works.

SCHEDULE FREE CONSULT/DEMO

Only 12 percent of respondents said they had adopted a cloud-first stance. And some businesses are even putting their cloud projects into reverse.

Eleven percent are shrinking their hybrid cloud deployments and 10 percent said the same for the private cloud. Seven percent are hitting the brakes on mixed-cloud deployments while two percent are decreasing their reliance on public cloud services.

For most organizations, the cloud is failing to live up to at least some of its promises.

Only 39 percent said the cloud had fully delivered on its ability to provide businesses with new or additional IT functionality faster than traditional approaches. Eight percent reported that the completely failed to meet their expectations.

And as for the cloud’s money-saving benefits, those remain elusive as well. Among those who prioritized turning capital expenditures, or heavy upfront investments, into ongoing, budget-friendly operating costs, only 17 percent achieved that aim.

The study also contained a data point that may bode well for the GDPR-friendly hybrid cloud vendors. Data sovereignty and security emerged was the top reason why businesses are not rushing to the hybrid cloud.

GDPR, or the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), places stringent rules on user data privacy, security and sovereignty. It will take effect on May 25, 2018.

“While the message championed by many interested parties is that the world is moving to various clouds, our numbers paint a more complex picture. Beware of generalizations: organizations are still in the process of moving certain workloads to certain types of cloud environment and this is far from being a full-scale migration,” said Chris Kaddaras, vice president and head of EMEA at Nutanix.

In short, the hybrid cloud market still has some maturing to do.

“Cloud platforms provide a wealth of opportunities but, clearly, there are still wrinkles to iron out,” added Kaddaras. “The future of hybrid cloud will depend on making it easier to adopt solutions that allow workloads to pass seamlessly between multiple platforms.”

Pedro Hernandez is a contributing editor at Datamation. Follow him on Twitter @ecoINSITE.