Pandemic-driven demand for cloud may be stymied by migration challenges

iland has released the findings of its research into customer confidence in cloud services. It found that despite the increase in cloud adoption due to the pandemic, three quarters of organisations surveyed say hyperscaler IaaS instance types may not meet their cost and performance needs for mission-critical applications, while more than one in five are not satisfied with key features of cloud provision such as security, performance, availability and support. 

The research also found that a lack of migration resources is delaying or preventing cloud projects for more than 80% of organisations surveyed. 

The research: The Hidden Pitfalls of Working with Hyperscale Clouds was conducted among 501 senior IT executives, including CIOs, CISOs and CTOs, in the UK and US by independent research organisation, Opinion Matters, in June 2020. Participants were asked for their views on security, performance, compliance and their overall level of confidence in the cloud services they have invested in. 

Key research findings include:

• 83% say lack of migration resources and/or time has delayed cloud migration. Among those, 12% say it has entirely prevented migration.
• 75% say a T Shirt size or hyperscaler instance type does not meet all their performance and cost requirements.
• 24% are not confident that hyperscale clouds can meet performance and availability requirements for specific applications.
• 23% are not confident that production data is protected via backup or disaster recovery in the event of data loss with their cloud service provider.
• 24% are not confident they can get the support they need from their cloud service provider.
• 53% say security is the top factor in cloud supplier selection. 
• 76% agree CSPs should assist or actively manage customer data compliance.

Commenting on the research findings, Researcher Charles Moore said: “While cloud adoption has seen a significant uptick due to the pandemic, the lack of migration resources for many customers has delayed or prevented deployment. Customers need to choose a cloud vendor that can fill the internal resource gaps that can hinder success.”

Justin Giardina, iland Chief Technology Officer, added: “The business benefits of moving to the cloud are indisputable, but with 83% of those surveyed saying that migration resources are necessary to achieve those benefits it’s clear that customers need to look beyond just the cloud platform and ensure their vendor can offer the supporting services that can reduce risk and improve time to value.”

“Hyperscale cloud services are missing the mark for a significant proportion of the organisations surveyed,” continues Giardina. “Having trust in critical cloud features is fundamental to realising its benefits, so with more than one in five respondents lacking confidence in aspects such as performance, availability, backup and support points to the hidden pitfalls of hyperscale clouds.” 

Security, management, visibility, and control are priority customer requirements for cloud solutions

The study also found that key requirements for cloud service provision include common or unified management across all services; this is a priority for 73% of those adopting multi-cloud solutions. Similarly, infrastructure visibility and control are must-have features for 71% of respondents. Many were looking to the future, with 89% saying it was important or critical that they can write to their CSP’s API for future software development and deployment.

Security is a primary criterion for cloud provider selection, with 53% saying it is the leading consideration and a further 43% saying it is a major factor. Three quarters of customers also want to see cloud service providers helping manage data compliance.

The survey found that the majority (74%) of respondents felt it was important that CSPs preserve their company’s existing networking environment when they move to the cloud. This reflects the current landscape, where many organisations are being forced to accelerate their cloud adoption programmes due to the pressures of supporting large-scale remote working. Giardina notes: “When organisations are being rapidly pushed out of their comfort zones and forced to shrink deployment schedules to the absolute minimum, being able to maintain the familiar networking environment in the cloud is an advantage that is appealing to under-pressure IT departments.”