Businesses are becoming more inclined to choose multiple cloud vendors over opting for just one, new research has claimed.
A survey from Oracle found 98% of enterprises use – or plan to use – multicloud. Two-thirds (67%) of the respondents were using or planning to use two or three cloud vendors, with a further 28% using between four and 10 services. Just 2% relied on a single cloud.
Among the key reasons for multicloud use, according to the analysis, was cost optimization. As we head into another tough year, it’s clear that companies are seeking to reduce their spend on necessary infrastructure and services.
Should I use multicloud?
A touch ahead of costs (40.5%), representing the primary deciding factor of 40.6% of the businesses, was data sovereignty and locality, which seems to have seen growth in recent years as online security against threats has hit the headlines.
Though these average figures indicate a general sentiment towards multicloud adoption, each country reports noticeable differences. Germany, for example, focuses on data sovereignty, while the UK, Japan, and Saudi Arabia place a larger emphasis on cost optimization and efficiency.
Despite the significant uptake in multicloud, Oracle did notice a concern shared by many enterprises in that managing multiple clouds can be challenging. The solution lies with the cloud companies, who should simplify cross-cloud observability and management. While this may at first seem counterintuitive, giving cloud companies the feeling that they are opening up their competition and potentially losing customers, it’s clear that users feel this would actually help them to use more clouds, in turn having a more positive effect.
“Multicloud is here, whether enterprises are ready for it or not. Business mergers can turn even the most stable of IT strategies into a multicloud environment overnight,” said Leo Leung, vice president, OCI and Oracle Technology.
