EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
HOW SHOULD ENTERPRISES LEVERAGE THE CLOUD FOR INNOVATION , EFFICIENCY AND GROWTH IN 2022 ?
Rackspace Technology , a leading end-to-end multi-cloud technology solutions company , has announced the results of a new global survey , conducted in association with Google Cloud , of 1,400 + IT executives , Future of Compute , that highlights the increasingly rapid pace of cloud adoption . According to the survey , the question is no longer whether organisations should migrate to the cloud , but how they can leverage the cloud for innovation , efficiency and growth .
More than half ( 51 %) of all survey respondents said that 100 % of their applicable infrastructure now resides in the cloud , while ( 49 %) said they plan to move more of their workloads into the cloud as possible . In addition , more than two-thirds of respondents ’ compute workloads are now supported by public cloud , colocation and managed hosting services . At the same time , IT infrastructure spread has reached an equilibrium and leaders expect it to hold steady over the next three to five years .
Underscoring the increasingly central role that technology is playing in transforming operations , more than a third ( 35 %) of respondents say IT executives play a key role in driving the direction of the company , as silos between functional areas continue to dissolve .
The cloud market grew 23 % to US $ 323.3 billion over the past year , according to Gartner , who projects a future growth rate of 18 % annually . Accordingly , most respondents say they are already enjoying the benefits of a public cloud ( 63 %) and / or a private cloud ( 66 %). In addition , public cloud investments represent as much as 40 % of most IT budgets , with private clouds at 30 %.
Containerised applications are also continuing to grow in popularity as organisations shift away from on-site data centres . The most common tactic among organisations ( 85 %) employing public cloud remains ‘ lifting and shifting ’ using cloud-based VMs ( Virtual Machines ), but 84 % of respondents say they are investing in public cloud with containers . Over half ( 62 %) of respondents say their use of containerised applications will increase in the next two years .
The cloud revolution brought an influx of advancements to the world of compute ; however , the past decade of inundation is settling into a more level pool of opportunity . Over the next 12 months , respondents anticipate their infrastructure spending will include on-site data centres ( 55 %), managed hosting ( 52 %), public cloud ( 51 %) and colocation ( 34 %). However , 60 % of respondents also said they envision not owning a data centre in the next five years .
“ Driven in large part by the power of the cloud , today ’ s technology landscape is evolving at a breakneck pace , while IT is penetrating all areas of the organisation ,” said Jeff DeVerter , Chief Technology Evangelist at Rackspace Technology . “ In this environment , IT leaders have the power to help companies and organisations see around corners to solve both their short-term and long-term business challenges and provide critical guidance in the areas of business growth , security , efficiency and customer experience .”
Security , data privacy and control understandably remain as top concerns among IT leaders , particularly for public cloud use cases . While these concerns present valid obstacles to getting more companies fully reaping the benefits of the cloud , the reality is that heterogenous multi-cloud infrastructure is proving to be the norm . Companies that focus their resources on successfully addressing security and data privacy concerns while innovating with cloud can expect to achieve a significant competitive advantage .
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