2014/02/11 Hybrid cloud is next big thing in the data center, indicates Infonetics enterprise cloud adoption survey

Campbell, CALIFORNIA, February 3, 2014—Market research firm Infonetics Research released excerpts from its new Cloud Service Strategies: North American Enterprise Survey, which explores enterprises’ plans for the adoption and usage of cloud services.

"Hybrid cloud is the next evolution in cloud architecture, with adoption among enterprises expected to more than double by 2015," notes Cliff Grossner, Ph.D., directing analyst for data center and cloud at Infonetics Research.

Grossner continues: “The transformation to the cloud is spelling disruption and opportunity for network equipment vendors, who would be wise to demonstrate how their offerings can be part of a hybrid cloud environment where interoperability between network management, server virtualization, and data center orchestration platforms are critical factors for success.”

• Among Infonetics’ enterprise survey respondents, the top drivers for cloud adoption are performance, agility, scalability, and cost reduction
• Enterprises’ mix of cloud services is changing: Platform-as-a-service (PaaS) and cloud-as-a-service (CaaS) have the largest increases in adoption between 2013 and 2015
• Just over half of respondents believe that shifting to the cloud will make it necessary to consider alternate network vendors
• 83% of enterprises surveyed rate service and support a very important criterion for choosing a cloud service provider, followed closely by experience and pricing structure
• Cloud adoption is impacting enterprise IT investments, with not only the WAN—but also the LAN—high on the list for upgrades