Only 47 per cent of the current cloud commitments are utilised, and over $300 billion in corporate cloud commitments remain untapped, according to a report by Infosys.
Companies have made big commitments to the cloud and are committing more. Two-thirds have increased cloud spending this year, and four out of five intend to increase spending in the year ahead. Companies also continue to add new cloud vendors.
But the financial reporting of major cloud providers shows that while cloud investments race ahead, utilisation has not kept pace. The 12 cloud and cloud-based software providers in the survey collectively report more than $300 billion in corporate cloud commitments that have not been used.
A company that does not utilise the cloud it is committed to forces bad outcomes, including losing money, spending more to accelerate migration, or renegotiating from a point of weakness, the report noted.
Anant Adya, EVP – Infosys Cobalt, said, “The way to improve utilisation is not to move workloads from on-prem to the cloud, but to modernise applications and make them more cloud native. Albeit, the process of modernisation is costly and time-consuming, hence there is confusion. We are trying to educate customers and fast-track some of their moments in order to have an incremental approach to utilisation.”
The research also highlighted the shift of cloud utilisation from storage and cutting costs, to utilising the cloud to gain access to new technology and capabilities, enabling new revenue streams, and replacing or updating current systems.
Further, it notes that companies are unable to control cloud deployments as 43 per cent have unclear policies regarding the department or function head authorised to deploy cloud resources. However, cloud still matters as 73 per cent agree that cloud migration achieves its objectives.
Adya also noted that: “As the cloud continues to evolve, it is imperative for organisations to integrate it as a strategic enabler for their growth and transformation. Leveraging multiple cloud providers allows organisations to optimise resources, improve resilience, and access specialised capabilities, which lead to improved efficiency and accelerated growth.”
Published on September 8, 2023
