Multi-cloud is rapidly becoming the de facto deployment model for organisations of all sizes – and a new report from hybrid cloud software provider Turbonomic has found that the vast majority of respondents ‘expect workloads to move freely across clouds.’

The study, the company’s 2019 State of Multicloud Survey which polled almost 850 respondent across multiple IT functions, found the key drivers for ‘true’ multi-cloud elasticity were a desire to leverage best-of-breed cloud services and guaranteed application availability.

Of those services, Amazon Web Services, cited by 55% of respondents, and Microsoft Azure (52%) held the clear advantage. 45% of those polled said they still used private cloud of some sort, while Google (22%) and IBM (8%) trailed. “Choice is not only critical in terms of the freedom to choose the best services for their business, but it’s also about leverage,” the report explained. “Clouds must compete, which ultimately drives the industry as a while forward with the innovation that will differentiate their offerings.”

If multi-cloud is the clear medium of choice, then containerisation is not far behind it. Almost two thirds (62%) of those polled said they had begun their cloud-native or container journey, with on average a quarter (26%) of environments currently using containerised applications. Almost a third of containerised apps were seen as mission-critical.

One of the clearest benefits of multi-cloud implementation, the report noted, was around saving time as the move to workload automation intensified. The exploration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) is one which divides opinion. Will this time saved lead to more productive workforces, or reduced workforces? Naturally, those polled expressed an optimistic view. Nine in 10 said it would either elevate their careers, or have no impact. Almost half (45%) of organisations surveyed said they were adopting AI and ML for application management.

The report’s conclusion focused around a common theme for regular readers of this publication – the evolution of cloud and how emerging technologies and services are augmenting it. “Clouds today are not just infrastructure as a service, but providers of application and business services,” the report noted. “These services are their true differentiation and will increasingly become their competitive advantage. When clouds compete, customers win.

“Culture and complexity are frequently cited as the main obstacles to success,” it added. “How quickly can people – teams of people – adapt to the speed these technologies enable, embrace the new mindsets they necessitate, and manage the dynamic complexity they create? These questions are compelling organisations to value their people as creative problem solvers and innovators more than ever before.”

The report makes for interesting reading when compared to a study released by Turbonomic and Verizon in 2016. Back then, it was more about outlining a business case for multi-cloud and balking at the cost issues. 81% of those polled back then said choosing the right workloads for the right clouds was a problem yet to be solved.

“The move toward hybrid and multi-cloud is well underway,” said Tom Murphy, CMO at Turbonomic. “This move is driven by an acute need for IT modernisation, as IT continues to elevate its value by increasingly driving innovation and new revenue opportunities.

“Containers and cloud-native are central to IT modernisation initiatives, creating a tipping point in complexity,” Murphy added. “Across industries, IT staff are seeking to minimise human-assisted automation, which is why they are increasingly turning toward workload automation.”

You can read the full 2019 State of Multicloud survey here (email required).

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