Avanade research shows executives want to overcome obstacles
Companies predict that more than half of applications and services will be deployed in the hybrid cloud within approximately three years, according to a worldwide survey released by Avanade, a global provider of business technology solutions and managed services. The study, conducted by Wakefield Research of 1,000 senior executives, business unit leaders and IT decision-makers from 21 countries, also shows that while companies of all sizes and regions are considering hybrid cloud adoption, a priority, there is a lot of confusion about what exactly it means and the preparations needed before accession
Despite concerns about security and privacy, the Avanade study shows that companies around the world expect solutions found in this cloud format to provide an advantage over their competitors. Interestingly, with IT spending moving out of tech departments within organizations, members of senior management are the most optimistic about the value of hybrid cloud solutions and the most motivated to adopt them. In fact, they are 32% more likely to join than IT leaders, and immediately champion the move to critical applications, including data and analytics, e-commerce applications, and customer-facing services.
However, the survey also shows that companies have not yet taken a major step towards realizing this competitive advantage, as most have not developed a strategy to use hybrid cloud as an integral part of the company's infrastructure.
Highlights
• Companies are investing in hybrid cloud solutions at a faster pace than public or private clouds, with 69% of companies agreeing that implementing a hybrid cloud will be a major focus in the area for 2015. In Brazil, this number is 79%;
• While they clearly agree that hybrid cloud adoption should be a priority, currently 58% companies do not have an implementation strategy;
• Few companies really understand the potential of hybrid cloud. Only 16% of respondents are able to identify the range of benefits provided. These benefits include the ability to integrate public and private clouds, better manage and tune workload, share workload across multiple public clouds, and scale up or down as needed;
• The vast majority agree that hybrid cloud adoption will allow their organizations to focus on issues that are critical to business growth (74%);
• Most companies are not yet ready to receive and leverage the benefits of hybrid cloud. 71% companies are simply using the infrastructure they have to run existing applications, which means they are not realizing the speed, scale and efficiency that cloud solutions offer;
• 53% of companies identify security and privacy issues – real or apparent – as a top implementation concern, but 60% admit that public cloud solutions are more secure than they were three years ago;
• Companies of all sizes and in all regions expect that more than half of their applications and services will be deployed in a hybrid cloud environment within an average of three years.
In Brazil, specifically, although the survey shows that the time for implementation can be up to 5 years, around 80% of respondents say that the hybrid cloud strategy should be one of the biggest focuses for the company in 2015, the highest average among the 21 countries responded to the survey. “There is still a lack of information about the benefits of the hybrid cloud, as it is natural that at first the company only focuses on the costs of the operation. However, when you get to know the product, there is confirmation of the benefits: more than 92% of respondents who have already joined the hybrid cloud are satisfied with the change”, says Marcelo Serigo, CTIO at Avanade Brasil.
The survey confirms the results of Accenture's High Performance IT: Defined by Digital report, as well as the Gartner 2014 Hybrid Cloud, which indicates that 72% companies are expected to pursue their hybrid cloud strategy by 2015.
The Avanade survey was conducted in October 2014 in the following countries: South Africa, Germany, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Singapore, Denmark, Spain, United States, Finland, France, Netherlands, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Norway, UK, Sweden and Switzerland.
EN 
PT 
