The race to
cloud:
Reaching the inflection point
to long-sought value
From insights to action, the path to extraordinary value starts here. The story in brief
o Over the past two years, there’s been a surge in cloud commitment: More than 86% of
companies report increasing the scope and volume of their cloud initiatives in that time.
o Achieving full cloud value is at a tipping point for those who are committed to the journey
with heavy adopters fully achieving expected outcomes at a higher rate.
o The journey continues beyond migration, to utilizing the power of cloud, for those who
remain committed. Nearly 7 in 10 companies (68%) report that their cloud efforts are
ongoing.
o Some leaders may feel in “cloud transformation limbo”: The low-hanging fruit has been
picked, so they’re moving more complex and business-critical systems to accelerate cloud
value. But they’re still not fully there, and stubborn barriers remain.
o The uptick in cloud investments we’ve seen over the past two years will continue to pay
higher dividends. Five key practices can help companies overcome persistent barriers and
tip the scales towards full value achievement.
The race to cloud: Reaching the inflection point to long sought value 2A critical juncture
in the cloud journey
The past two years have represented a period of dramatically compressed
transformation. Commitment to the cloud surged as companies came
under immense pressure to prepare their businesses to thrive amid rapid
change and become more competitive for the future.
The COVID-19 pandemic was an inflection point, turning cloud from an
attractive option to an urgent mandate. Buttressed by an era of economic
abundance, companies embarked on their cloud missions with big
ambitions. They committed to the cloud providers, signed big deals,
developed more ambitious goals for how cloud would deliver immense
growth, agility and efficiency for their businesses.
Today, companies find themselves at a new inflection point: much of
the low-hanging fruit has been harvested and now they’re reaching higher.
Organizations must now shift the focus from simply “getting there” to
“getting value” and then “operating in the Cloud Continuum” to not only
fully realize their anticipated outcomes, but to unlock the next level of
innovation and business opportunity.
The race to cloud: Reaching the inflection point to long sought value 3Our latest “state of the market” research surveyed business and IT
leaders across the globe to discover how far along their companies The grand-scale surge
are on their cloud journeys, and how much value they report seeing
from their cloud investments. This research builds upon our 2020in cloud investments is
and 2018 inquiries into the same topic.1,2 The results tell a story ofpromising, opening the
significant progress, with full value still waiting at the summit.
Today, nine in ten respondents report achieving some degree of door to a much broader
their expected outcomes. Yet, despite the unprecedented surge set of opportunities.
in cloud investment, full achievement of expected outcomes has
climbed to just 42%, but up from 37% in 2020. It’s not time to rest
But this commitment to cloud exposes ground left to
on our laurels, especially with the same stubborn barriers standing
cover on the road to full value. Our research attempts
in the way: security risks, complexity, lack of skills, legacy systems
to shed light on that journey and explore what lies
and more.
ahead for companies on the path to reinvention.
The race to cloud: Reaching the inflection point to long sought value 4Data highlights
86% of companies 42%, on average, report Heavy adopters continue
increased the volumefully achieving expected to outperform, with 47%
and scope of their cloud cloud outcomes, up reporting fully achieving
initiatives over two years. from 37% in 2020. their outcomes.
Top barriers to cloud value areWhile 32% of companies The most respondents,
“security and compliance risks”see their cloud journeys as 43%, indicated that they
and “complexity of business andcomplete and are satisfiedwould allocate additional
operational change,” with 41% with outcomes, the remainder funds to “enhanced data
placing them in their top three overall. (68%) are still progressing on analytics and AI.”
“Legacy application modernization” their cloud journeys.
follows closely at 39%.