Technology services provider HCLTech released its latest report, “Cloud Evolution: Mandate to Modernize,” which looks at how enterprises are adapting their cloud strategies to drive innovation and transformation today. The report points to the continued dominance of hybrid and multi-cloud solutions, with enterprises increasingly prioritizing cloud flexibility and modernization.
According to the report, enterprises are now more than twice as likely to adopt a deliberate multi-cloud strategy compared to three years ago. Currently, 87% of businesses rely on more than one cloud provider, typically engaging with three providers to ensure flexibility, redundancy, and enhanced performance.
The trend, which is expected to continue, (85% of enterprises plan to collaborate with additional cloud vendors in the next year), will also include on-premises infrastructure which is critical for many enterprises. About 81% of respondents indicated they will maintain on-premises systems due to data security and regulatory concerns, making hybrid cloud strategies essential to balance security with scalability.
Application modernization is also a top priority for businesses to maximize the benefits of cloud migration. Eighty percent of enterprises said that simply “lifting and shifting” applications to the cloud is not enough to realize full cloud value. Instead, 73% of organizations have already started refactoring their applications to adopt cloud-native approaches, driving efficiency and improved performance.
“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.”
In fact, the rise of Generative AI (GenAI) is playing a major role in influencing cloud strategies as nearly all surveyed enterprises (98%) are exploring custom GenAI solutions, with many adopting cloud-native practices to modernize applications. Another 55% however, said that data for these solutions still resides on-premises, leading them to initially run AI projects locally before scaling to the cloud.
“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.”Edited by Greg Tavarez
