Now, NTT's 2021 Hybrid Cloud Report has confirmed 93.7% of global businesses see cloud as critical to meeting immediate business needs amongst pandemic uncertainty.
Further proving the case, 89.5% of decision makers across 13 countries found the pandemic forced their business to rely on technology more than ever.
Acknowledging the "cultural mindset shift", NTT said the pandemic had provided a "significant opportunity to accelerate digital transformation initiatives", after highlighting deficiencies in businesses’ cloud infrastructure, security and network architecture capabilities.
Touting hybrid cloud as the future solution of choice, NTT said 60.9% of organisations globally are already using, or piloting hybrid cloud.
Rob Lopez, EVP of intelligent infrastructure at NTT Ltd., said: “As businesses look to navigate the new year, they must look to hybrid cloud environments that are optimised for agility, security and supported by the right network architecture while also meeting compliance requirements. This is the foundation upon which cloud is successful and will enable businesses to weather any form of disruption that comes their way.”
The report, which surveyed 950 decision makers, found almost 46.3% regarded difficulties in managing data security as the greatest barrier to adopting hybrid cloud. To overcome these barriers when working in such complex environments, organisations must choose the right environment that will securely host their mission-critical applications across public and private clouds; and work with a partner who understands the industries they’re working in to ensure compliance.
The report also found that network performance and a shortage of skills were regarded as sizeable barriers. Both, if not appropriately addressed, when implementing the cloud, could undo the benefits on offer.
