Dive Brief:
- One-third of companies that have adopted the cloud say the shift brought about little to no improvement in their organizational effectiveness, according to IT firm Unisys. The Unisys Cloud Success Barometer polled 1,045 global IT and business leaders.
- Organizations linking cloud and business were more than twice as likely to experience great or moderate improvements to their business. One way companies bridged cloud and business operations: integrating a cloud adoption plan into broader business transformation planning.
- Security concerns posed a challenge for 46% of companies during cloud migration, as business leaders fear vulnerability while between platforms. More than one-quarter of business leaders at companies which haven't migrated to the cloud cite security as a hurdle to deploy the technology.
Dive Insight:
To reap the full benefits of the technology, companies have to wade through the complexities of migration while maintaining operations and limiting cybersecurity risks.
Companies leveraging the cloud say a sharper focus on security, in-house skill building and the implementation of agile processes could make migration more successful. Multicloud strategies amp up the level of complexity for these processes.
Among companies seeking third-party help to smooth transformations, 53% of respondents cited needing help with security.
"The level of concern is understandable, because when you're leveraging emerging technologies there is a degree of risk that can be intimidating for any team," said Raj Raman, CTO of cloud at Unisys, said in the report.
Cloud vendors operate under a shared responsibility model when it comes to cybersecurity. While confidence in the technology is growing, a Nominet survey found 37% of C-Suite leaders believe the risk of a breach is higher in the cloud.
Maintaining a safe, smoothly operating cloud infrastructure hinges on a company's ability to attract and retain cloud talent at a time when demand for these type of professionals is soaring.
