Cloud Innovation Worries Execs

Most IT executives and professionals are concerned about missing the latest developments in cloud computing technology.
This is one of the key findings from a recent survey conducted by Commvault and CITO Research. For their August 2017 Executive Cloud Survey report, the companies surveyed 100 IT professionals, including 62 C-level executives.
A majority of respondents (94 percent) expressed concern about the innovation rate among top cloud providers and their ability keep up with it. Eight out of ten respondents were “very” or “extremely” concerned.
This concern is not unfounded, considering the rapid pace at which feature rollouts are happening between market leaders Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. Andy Jassy, CEO of AWS, stated that AWS was on track for releasing approximately 1,000 new features by 2016. This was at the re:Invent conference in November. This is an increase of 722 features in 2015 and 516 for 2014.
[Click on the image to see a larger view.] Andy Jassy, CEO of AWS, at the 2016 re-Invent conference. (Source: AWS/YouTube). Microsoft has so far posted more than 120 Azure feature announcements on its Azure update page. A separate roadmap page lists 70 Azure features currently “in preview” and 10 more “in development.”
IT professionals aren’t only concerned about the top two cloud providers but also Google and Oracle. According to the report, IT leaders are trying to track developments across all four major cloud providers. This element should not be underestimated when you consider the marketing spend of all four major players and their presence.
Respondents expressed concern about their ability to manage new cloud technologies, in addition to the speed of innovation. Half of respondents cited difficulty in understanding how to use cloud services as a barrier to cloud migration. 65 percent were also concerned about the lack of skilled workers to support cloud projects.
There are many ways IT executives and professionals can learn about the latest cloud developments. There is no clear winner. 60 percent of respondents preferred to read tech publications over other colleagues. The channel was also a strong performer, with 56 percent of respondents saying that they keep up to date with the cloud via “consultants,” systems integrators, and channel partners.
At the bottom, 44% of respondents preferred conferences, while 33% preferred vendor Web sites.
Despite uncertainty about education and skills, companies seem to be embracing cloud adoption. 93% have completed or are in the process. 87 percent expect to increase their cloud budgets in the next fiscal year.
According to Dan Woods (CTO of CITO), the survey’s findings indicate that “the migration towards the cloud is underway fully, even as businesses struggle to understand cloud capabilities.”
You can find the full report here.