The study, released in September, showed that over 68 percent of organisations are adopting or leveraging the cloud to generate greater business value, with many participant’s using cloud-native applications for security and the Internet of Things (IoT).
Alarmingly, the results also revealed that most organisations (69 percent) lack a mature cloud strategy and only three percent are benefiting from holding an optimised cloud strategy.
The InfoBrief aimed at measuring how successfully organisations are implementing private, public and hybrid clouds in their IT environments. Also highlighted, are the common obstacles businesses face in achieving greater cloud maturity, from skills gaps to siloed organisational structures and IT/Line of Business misalignment.
“Australia is consistently referred to as an ‘early adopter’, however, despite growing global adoption rates of cloud solutions, Australian organisations face substantive challenges in optimsing their Hybrid Cloud strategy.” Rodney Hamill, General Manager of Cloud, Cisco Australia and New Zealand, said in response to the Australian findings.
“Locally, 42% of organisations have no Hybrid Cloud strategy, 30% have adopted an ‘Ad-Hoc’ cloud strategy and only 2% possess an ‘Optimised’ cloud strategy.”
The large opportunity these figures presents, according to Cisco, is for Australian businesses to drive down costs. The InfoBrief demonstrates the “cloud advanced” organisations surveyed, see an average annual benefit, per cloud based application, of $3 million in additional revenue and $1 million in savings.
These financial incentives are generated through the sale of new products or services, the ability to attract new customers faster and accelerating the capability to sell into new markets. The study also determined 95% of these ‘leading businesses’ hold ‘optimised cloud strategies’, which are based on a hybrid IT environment using a combination of multiple private and public clouds.
“In Australia, 52% of hybrid cloud adopters subscribe to external cloud services and 47% of hybrid cloud adopters use a mix of public services and dedicated assets. When contrasted to the InfoBrief, Australian organisations certainly have a way to go on the cloud journey but the advantages of getting cloud right are exponential.” Hamill revealed.
Cisco has also developed the ‘Business Cloud Advisor Adoption Report’, an online tool that translates the findings of this study into personalized analysis and guidance. Acting as a tool for self-assessment, companies can complete a brief survey that generates a snapshot of their own cloud adoption and associated benefits relative to their industry peers – by sector, company size or geography.
“Cisco’s Business Cloud Advisor Adoption Report tool is the litmus test for businesses focused on improving their cloud adoption and optimising their cloud strategy. Offering a concise evaluation of a business’s assets and gaps, then benchmarking their status to similar organisations, generates a ‘roadmap’ to better cloud practices.”
“With over 69% of Australian businesses planning to implement some form of cloud solution and on-premises cloud spending to increase by 47% over the next few years, strategically implementing and cementing your business’s cloud uptake is imperative.”