TALKING

Fast forward to today , and , as Gartner puts it , ‘ cloud has become essentially indispensable .’

Yet , the cloud story has become far more nuanced than just huge growth figures , particularly as the market matures and organisations build their understanding of the different models and service providers . For example , Gartner also makes the point that the tables are turning for cloud providers as cloud models no longer drive business outcomes , but rather , business outcomes shape cloud models . This is an important observation – not least because it should encourage IT leaders to seek out an approach to cloud implementation that ticks as many performance and financial boxes as possible .

To an extent , this shift in emphasis is driven by the experiences of CIOs and other tech leaders , many of whom haven ’ t seen the full range of benefits promised by the cloud concept translated into real-world efficiencies . Among the more high-profile issues are hidden bandwidth costs and overly complex payment plans , which contributed to a growth in trends such as public cloud repatriation .

In 2023 , for example , issues including high fees for transferring data out , technical restrictions and committed spend discounts imposed by the leading public cloud providers prompted Ofcom to refer the UK cloud market to the Competition and Markets Authority ( CMA ) for further investigation . It forms part of an increasingly complex picture which also shows that even though the public cloud market is still booming , over 70 % of organisations of varying sizes are planning full or partial repatriation of compute resources from the public cloud , according to a 2023 survey by IDC .

The right workloads in the right place

Given these fascinating trends , what are the options for organisations and their technology leaders who want to focus their cloud spend so it aligns with their target business outcomes ?

For many organisations , rather than adopting a starting point dictated by a particular type of cloud infrastructure , a better strategy is to ensure each workload is in the right place , irrespective of whether this is on-premises or hosted in a private or public cloud environment . This kind of workload-centric approach can help focus IT investment more precisely against specific scale , performance and compliance parameters .

More specifically , a hybrid cloud approach could result in hyperscale infrastructure being used for requirements that must be delivered at scale . At the same time , on-premises technologies or private clouds can be adopted for specific workloads where security is paramount , where redundancy , resilience and Disaster Recovery are key requirements or in organisations where legacy technologies continue to play an important role .

As recently as 2021 , for example , over 90 % of the UK ’ s financial firms were still relying on legacy technology to some extent . With a workload-centric approach , organisations can carefully select the most appropriate cloud execution venue for any legacy technologies that require modernisation or form part

of a wider Digital Transformation strategy . In some cases , ageing software will work most effectively on legacy hardware from the same era , underlining the value of a pragmatic approach that doesn ’ t go ‘ all-in ’ with one infrastructure option .

In the current UK context , where Digital Transformation is a key focus for many organisations , the scalability and adaptability of hybrid cloud infrastructure supports long-term growth in a controlled environment . This scalability is especially relevant for companies undergoing significant Digital Transformation processes by offering a stable platform for innovation and expansion .

Cloud has become essentially indispensable .

Chris Jackson , Chief Product and Technology Officer at Six Degrees

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