87% of enterprises are choosing multiple cloud partners;

81% see hybrid environments persisting

HCLTech, a leading global technology company, today released its report, ‘Cloud Evolution: Mandate to Modernize,’ offering a comprehensive analysis of how enterprises are reshaping their cloud strategies to drive innovation and business transformation.

“Cloud is not just a technology investment; it is fundamental to how businesses modernize. The convergence of cloud, GenAI and the acceleration provided by cloud native practices is essential to how enterprises operate, enabling rapid decision-making, enhancing customer experiences and driving competitive advantage,” said Siki Giunta, Executive Vice President and Head of Cloud Native Center of Excellence, HCLTech. “Embracing cloud native architectures and platform engineering is essential for enterprises aiming to build a robust, future-proof IT landscape that supports continuous innovation. By refactoring applications and leveraging cloud native disciplines and practices, businesses can unlock unprecedented levels of agility, scalability and resilience.”

Hybrid, multicloud will continue to be the norm

• Enterprises today are 2.2x more likely to have a deliberate multicloud strategy than three years ago.
• 87% of enterprises are now utilizing more than one cloud provider, with an average of three providers forming the backbone of their multicloud strategies. This reflects a growing recognition of the importance of flexibility and redundancy in cloud infrastructure.
• 85% of enterprises reported that within the next year, they will definitely or likely collaborate with additional cloud providers beyond their current engagements.
• Despite the growing adoption of public cloud computing technologies, 81% of the enterprises acknowledged that they would maintain a significant on-premises infrastructure due to data security and regulatory needs. This highlights the importance of a hybrid cloud strategy.

Application modernization is a top priority for cloud value realization

• 80% of enterprises agree that the value of the public cloud can only be fully realized if applications are modernized when they are migrated (vs. just lifting and shifting them).
• 73% of enterprises actively refactored applications during cloud migration, signaling a strong shift towards cloud native modernization.
• 78% agree that cloud native approaches drive improvements.

GenAI projects are influencing cloud adoption and increasing interest in cloud native practices for application modernization

• 98% of the enterprises are exploring custom Generative AI (GenAI) solutions on cloud and incorporating cloud native practices to modernize applications for cloud.
• 55% of the enterprises said that data for custom GenAI solutions resides on-premises leading organizations to initially run some solutions on-premise and scale to cloud over time.

Third-party consulting offers immense value

• 83% of enterprises that partner with third-party consultants have reported significant improvements in IT efficiency and application performance, highlighting the value of expert guidance in cloud strategy execution.

“IT operations need to be seamless across cloud environments and enterprises that invest in open solutions can enable such consistency while significantly mitigating the complexities of multicloud,” said Rampal Singh, Vice President and Global Business Head, Hybrid Cloud, HCLTech. “The findings of our study emphasize the necessity for enterprises to approach cloud as the foundational platform for deploying AI-driven solutions that will shape the future of industries.”

HCLTech’s CloudSMART strategy is designed to deliver meaningful business outcomes from cloud investments. It leverages HCLTech’s deep engineering expertise and partnership with leading cloud providers to implement modern cloud best practices as well as enable continuous modernization.

HCLTech’s AI & Cloud Native Labs enable modernization and cloud transformation journeys for enterprises by taking a hands-on, consultative approach to future-proofing businesses using modern software engineering practices in a fully equipped lab environment.

The study is based on a survey of 500 senior business and technology leaders across multiple industries and geographic regions. The research report was commissioned by HCLTech and was conducted by the global analyst firm, ESG via interviews with business and technology leaders. To access the full research report, visit: https://www.hcltech.com/cloud-research/

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