Dive Brief:

• Microsoft’s Azure CTO says cultural transformation is one of the biggest barriers to enterprise cloud adoption today.
• Speaking at IP Expo, Mark Russinovich said companies moving to the cloud also battle "migration strategy, cost and governance, security and the nuances of a hybrid cloud model," according to a TechWeek Europe report. 
• "IT has traditionally been very risk averse and very focused on infrastructure and key performance indicators (KPIs) for how they build servers and keep uptime," Russinovich said. "IT needs to become a partner to the business. This means developers that are sitting side by side creating a platform for the business to deploy onto the cloud."

Dive Insight:

Russinovich suggested a closer relationship between a business' developers and its finance team can help make the transition to cloud easier. For many businesses, Russinovich believes a hybrid model is a great place for companies to start with cloud because they can retain control over specific parts of the business. "Hybrid is something that’s durable, persistent and here to stay," he said.

Trust is also important for prospective cloud adopters, according to Russinovich. Last month, a study from the IBM Institute for Business Value found the top three challenges to cloud adoption cited by respondents were perceived security or compliance risks and requirements, cost structure and "increased risk of operational disruption due to new cloud-based solution."

Though it may seem pervasive, public cloud actually represents only 15% of workloads today, according to a research from VMware presented by the company's CEO Pat Gelsinger during the VMware 2016 keynote.

But as organizations determine how to integrate cloud into their business model, the rate of adoption should increase. Part of that stems from increased understanding and the ability for organizations to find the cloud model that fits them best.