C-Level and Other IT Leaders Have Fear of Missing Out on Cloud Advancements

• While business leaders are rapidly embracing the cloud, 81% are very concerned about missing out on new cloud advancements
• 75% of respondents name data protection and backup among the cloud projects most impactful to their business
• More than 93% of respondents say they are moving at least some of their processes to the cloud and a majority are already cloud-only or plan to completely move to the cloud

Commvault Systems, Inc. announced the results of an executive survey that found that 81% of C-level and other IT leaders are either extremely concerned or very concerned about missing out on cloud advancements.

The survey, which was conducted in partnership with IT research firm CITO Research, demonstrates that CEOs, CIOs and CTOs are experiencing serious cloud Fear of Missing Out (FOMO).

The survey concludes that cloud FOMO is driving business leaders to move full-speed ahead on cloud strategies, with 93% of respondents stating that they are moving at least some of their processes to the cloud. In addition, 56% of respondents stated that they have moved or intend to move not just some, but all of their processes to the cloud.

“The survey unequivocally confirms that cloud FOMO is real and on the mind of C-level and other IT leaders who are grappling with bringing the value of this new frontier to their organizations, from increasing IT outcomes to being a strategic driver for increased business agility,” said Dan Woods, CTO, CITO Research. “The research indicates the migration toward the cloud is underway in full force, even as companies struggle to understand cloud capabilities. Data protection and recovery was highlighted as a fundamental area where the cloud is having significant business impact.“

“Implementing cloud technologies remains an effective way to advance digital transformation within your business. C-level and other IT leaders are rightfully concerned about keeping up with cloud developments,” said Don Foster, senior director of solutions marketing, Commvault. “To be innovative in this transformation, organizations of all sizes must have a clear understanding of how new cloud technology developments enable pragmatic and efficient means for how data is moved, managed, protected and most effectively used with cloud technology, either on-premises or with a cloud provider. These survey results revealing that Cloud FOMO is real are consistent with what Commvault is seeing from our growing customer base, who rely on us as a strategic and trusted partner with the only data management platform in the market today to enable them to move, manage and use data across on-premises and cloud locations.”

Research showed that 75% of business leaders viewed data protection and backup as one of the cloud projects that are most impactful to their business – more than any other cloud project. However, despite seeing data protection and backup as the most impactful use case for the cloud, 63% were extremely concerned or very concerned about being able to recover data quickly from the cloud.

“Our experience makes it clear that these concerns come from customers who understand they need more than native tools for basic level backup,” continued Foster. “Customers are increasingly aware they need holistic backup and recovery, ensuring that no matter where their data lives – on-premises or in the cloud – it is properly protected and recoverable.”

How concerned are you that you are missing out
on new advancementd related to cloud?

(2017 Executive Cloud Survey, CITO Research and Commvault)

Other topline findings of the report include:

• Biggest barriers preventing moving more apps and data to the cloud:
  • 68% cited sheer volume of data
  • 65% struggle developing staff skills/acquiring talent to support the migration
  • 55% cited policies across cloud and on-premises data as major barriers
• Cloud migration investment: 87% of business leader respondents plan to put more budget toward cloud next year. Meanwhile only 4% anticipate that they’ll be investing less.
• Data security and recovery: 91% claim to have implemented data protection for SaaS or cloud based applications.
• Primary customer reasons to move to the cloud:
  • Customer focus through business agility: 33%
  • Cost savings: 22%
  • Innovation and development of new apps, products and services: 20%

For these executives, the journey to the cloud is as positive as it is important. Only 1% of business leaders described their cloud journey as frustrating and 13% found it expensive, while 51% described it as innovative and 35% called it exciting.

“In government, we need a lot of flexibility to adapt to change,” said Jon Walton, CIO of County of San Mateo, CA. “The business requirements are fluid, procurement and funding timelines are long, and we want the taxpayer to feel as though their money’s being well spent. Today’s cloud survey results are another validation of the forward thinking strategy we outlined years ago to adopt technologies that are on the forefront of disruptive IT trends. By creating a hybrid infrastructure that incorporated both the private cloud, its existing infrastructure, and public cloud services, workloads and data can be easily moved between infrastructures, enabling the County to use whichever infrastructure delivers the best combination of price/performance while ensuring enhanced access to critical information which allows the county to operate smoothly.“

The Commvault and CITO survey targeted C-level executives in industries including but not limited to tech, financial services, manufacturing, healthcare, retail and telecoms in the US – to gain a better understanding of their overall perspective and business strategies related to cloud.

Full report IT Leaders Do Worry About the Cloud: An Executive Cloud Survey