As enterprises return to normal IT operations post-COVID-19, Evaluator Group conducted a hybrid cloud research study to ascertain movement on issues explored in previous survey research. The 2021 research and survey data explores new lines of inquiry, including those concerning cloud storage, cost, containers/Kubernetes, multi-cloud data management (MCDM) and cloud decision making. Evaluator Group asked respondents questions to help expose barriers to adoption, problems encountered, and aspects they find of value and that help increase hybrid cloud adoption.
“Our most recent study shows how enterprise IT has matured in its use of hybrid cloud infrastructure as well as public cloud resources,” said John Webster, Senior Partner and author of the study. “As with our previous studies, we augmented or survey data with in-depth interviews which allowed us to drill-down further into issues raised by an analysis of the data.”
In October 2017, Evaluator Group published the results and analysis of a survey of potential and current enterprise hybrid cloud users. At that time, 62% of our survey respondents had deployed hybrid clouds and indicated this architecture was their long-term future, while 30% said they were “just getting started.” In contrast, the 2021 survey found that 98% of respondents had deployed a hybrid cloud architecture, with the remaining 2% planning to deploy one, but still deciding on the architecture. No respondents indicated they had no plans to deploy a hybrid cloud environment.
“Our series of “IT Responds to COVID-19” studies showed, as we all felt, the move to use the Public Cloud. For many these were a game changer. Yet as we settle into the digital transformation, we have found the a pragmatic approach for the original strategy of “Cloud First.” Cloud, here and on premises is the new norm, just a question of the how for each workload,” said Camberley Bates, Managing Director and Analyst.
The 2021 survey shows some shifting of technical challenges currently experienced by enterprise IT users. Today, public cloud security tops the list with 40% of respondents identifying this as one of their biggest challenges, while network security falls to second place at 35%. Evaluator Group suspects that the increase of external attacks, such as ransomware and phishing, has much to do with the gravity of this concern among IT administrators.
Evaluator Group also looked at workloads and primary locations for deployment. Surprisingly, users specified workloads either a Public Cloud (48%) or On-premises (43%) designation over the Hybrid Cloud (24%).
Evaluator Group’s new research study was created by conducting an incisive survey and in-depth interviews with IT professionals from North American enterprise-level companies. Interview respondents represented differing responsibility levels, from executive to operational administrator, and were distributed across most of the industries surveyed.
For more information and a free study overview that includes the report’s full Table of Contents and List of Figures, click here.
About Evaluator Group
Evaluator Group Inc., an Information management and data storage analyst firm, has been covering systems for over 20 years. Executives and IT Managers rely upon us to help make informed decisions to architect and purchase systems supporting their data management objectives. We surpass the current technology landscape by defining requirements and providing an in-depth knowledge of the products as well as the intricacies that dictate long-term successful strategies. Press Contact: For more information about Evaluator Group contact Nick Waterhouse at 303.221.7867 x1008 or Nick(at)evaluatorgroup(dot)com.
