Contino uncovers scarcity of business-wide cloud use

Some level of engagement with cloud solutions is taking place within almost every enterprise, with only 1% of businesses yet to dip their toe in the water. However, responses indicate that while 77% of enterprises are using the public cloud in some capacity, only 13% have a fully-fledged program across their entire business. The largest set of respondents (42%) have multiple apps and projects deployed in the cloud, 24% are still working on initial proofs-of-concept and 18% are in the planning stage.

The cloud is causing a massive shift in how businesses are now operating, tearing apart previous business models. The report found that the most cited benefit of public cloud adoption is having the ability to align IT with today’s business needs. Furthermore, 99% of respondents claimed that it has shown significant technical benefit. Of those benefits, the three most cited included the cloud’s efficiency, agility and scalability.

However, security and compliance remain the biggest barriers for not adopting cloud even in uncertain times. 48% cited that their biggest barrier for not using the cloud was security and 37% stated the need to remain compliant was the most prevalent blocker.

Other challenges perceived as barriers include a lack of skills (29%), being unable to make a business case (32%), large existing investments in on-premises data centres (31%), and a lack of leadership buy-in (19%). Concerns around vendor lock-in are also common, with 63% of IT professionals ‘somewhat’ or ‘very much’ afraid of the commitment that can come with investing in the cloud.

Michael Chalmers, Managing Director EMEA, commented: “It is evident from our report that the public cloud is firmly entrenched in the enterprise IT landscape, however, many of them are still in a period of transition with fully-fledged cloud programs a rarity.

“I can’t emphasise enough the importance of public cloud adoption in today’s uncertain world. With difficult economic times ahead, the cloud can enable many businesses to adapt and find new ways of operating to protect their prospects. From our research, we can see that the public cloud is increasingly becoming a central element of enterprise IT.

“Businesses decision-makers must overcome their fears and stumbling blocks to embrace a cloud-native mindset. Only then can they benefit from the opportunities it opens up to not only survive but thrive and scale.”

Contino’s State of Public Cloud in the Enterprise Research Report 2020 consisted of 250 IT decision-makers at enterprise companies across Europe, USA and APAC within companies of over 5,000 employees.

The full report is available here for more insights, answers to key questions around cloud adoption.