Multi-cloud paths for most APAC firms are fuzzy

Seven in every 10 (70%) organisations in the Asia-Pacific region are already using multiple public clouds, but 38% say their multi-cloud strategy is fully defined, according to a new study by Vanson Bourne and commissioned by VMware.

Data was gathered for the Multi-Cloud Maturity Research Report from June to August 2022, covering more than 5,700 C-suite leaders, cloud architects, DevOps and AppDev pros as well as business decision makers from 19 countries, including 1,900 respondents in APAC.

Findings show that APAC firms surveyed appear to have a disconnect between their applications and cloud strategies, with 90% of respondents from multi-cloud organizations saying that they have apps built to run across multiple clouds. These apps allow the organisations to increase app dev, DevOps and IT productivity according and get products and services to market faster.

Across the board, Cloud Smart organizations – defined as those with smart business environments to innovate and scale securely, and across multiple environments – are performing better than their peers in the three other groups identified in the report — Trailing, Cloud Beginner and Cloud Intermediate. 

The research shows that Cloud Smart and Cloud Intermediate organisations are more likely to originate from APAC than anywhere else in the world.

“Instead of adopting a Cloud Smart approach, many organisations are in risk of entering a state of Cloud Chaos, losing visibility and control as more and more of their apps and data are spread across more and more clouds,” said Paul Simos, VMware VP and Managing Director in Southeast Asia and Korea.

“It is time to shift gears and transition to a cloud-smart strategy not just to weather what is to come, but to continue getting the scale of productivity and profitability they have been enjoying when they first moved to the Cloud far into the future,” said Simos.

There are six key areas that organisations across Asia Pacific need to consider in the next phase of the journey towards becoming a Cloud Smart organisation.

First, unlocking revenue and profitability potential, considering that 97% of Cloud Smart organisations across APAC report that their multi-cloud approach has positively impacted their revenue and profitability.

Second, transforming data into money, with 30% reporting data monetisation as a significant source of revenue versus 22% two years ago. 

When looking at the segment of Cloud Smart organizations, , 41% report data monetisation as a significant source of revenue currently, with 75% anticipating this to be the case by 2027.

Third, demystifying visibility to control on cloud costs. Trailing organisations are more than twice as likely to report a struggle with cloud costs than Cloud Smart organizations (32% to 70%).

Fourth, tackling data sovereignty and management, with 92% of Cloud Smart enterprises saying it’s easy to manage data in whichever nation it resides as compared to 63% of Trailing organisations. Also, 89% of Cloud Smart enterprises report it is easy to secure the data in whichever nation it resides compared to 60% of their Trailing counterparts.

Fifth, strengthening security and control. With more clouds, comes more potential entry points for bad actors, prompting organisations to cite “increased cybersecurity risks” as the most likely challenge associated with multi-cloud at 42%.

And sixth, bridging the talent gap, as 46% of APAC respondents agree their organisation does not have the skills inhouse to achieve a multi-cloud approach, and even Cloud Smart organisations are struggling with this issue, with 42% saying the same.