Largest spend on cloud services expected over next 24 months

Businesses are accelerating their move to the cloud, with half of enterprises (50%) suggesting that their biggest anticipated spend will span the next 24 months, according to the latest research* from Colt. The research, which interviewed 500 senior IT and C-suite decision-makers across key markets in Europe and the Asia Pacific, is included in Colt’s third annual international study of cloud adoption.

Other key findings were that sustainability remains a core component of cloud adoption for decision-makers. In addition, early adopters have found it easier to migrate to the cloud, with 67% of respondents at firms that have already invested in cloud applications finding migration easier than anticipated. Much of this resulted from strong partner support on their cloud journeys.

The report also highlights how IT leaders split their time evenly between the main elements of cloud strategy (planning, testing, migration, and optimisation); however, they felt that more of a focus on optimisation could see firms reap greater rewards.

Those respondents who had overseen optimised cloud connectivity saw a range of benefits, including improved performance (41%), more network visibility (39%) and better security (45%), because they could bring in more products or solutions, for example, SASE (Secure Access Server Edge). SASE is also one of the top features decision-makers are considering or will include in future projects (66%), along with hybrid and multi-cloud orchestration (66%).

According to Colt's research, enterprises are also achieving KPIs quicker than expected, with IT leaders believing that they’ve met almost half (49%) of their goals already, with eleven percent having completed their cloud project KPIs.

In terms of lessons learned, flexible connectivity topped the list of features that IT leaders wished they’d included in previous migration projects (24%). This is because successful projects are often followed by more requests that fixed connectivity might not be able to handle. Planning for flexible connectivity that can scale up with demand during projects and scale down when assessing, testing or optimising mitigates this problem.

Jaya Deshmukh, EVP Strategy and Transformation at Colt, said: “Our annual cloud report helps us to better understand the challenges IT decision-makers face around what companies are moving to the cloud and why, and the part that connectivity plays in delivering benefits of the cloud, so we can provide exactly what customers want and need.

“This year’s report highlights that businesses plan to invest heavily in the cloud over the next two years and that some perceived challenges around cloud migration were largely unfounded. This was put down to the key role partners play in delivering successful cloud deployments – both in terms of set up and optimisation.”