Multi-Cloud Orchestration is Key to Accelerating Digital Transformation, Fujitsu Study Confirms

The Fujitsu State of Orchestration 2018/19 survey ¹ of IT decision makers reveals an average of nine separate cloud vendors today, with one third already using between 10 and 20. ‘Cloud only’ or ‘cloud first’ strategies are fast becoming the norm, with one in five organizations (21 percent) describing their cloud strategy in these terms, up from 12 percent just a year ago². In cloud-only organizations, multi-cloud is the new norm, with the average number of vendors now standing at 13.

Participants also predict that diversity of cloud suppliers will continue to increase: Almost two-thirds of organizations (64 percent) see multi-cloud becoming a more significant part of their cloud architecture over the next two years.

Given the growing use of multi-cloud revealed by the survey, respondents show a strong desire to get on top of this complexity, with three-quarters (76 percent) agreeing that digital transformation requires cloud orchestration to be truly effective, up from 71 percent2. However, a very large proportion of IT decision makers sampled see a reality gap, with over eight out of ten (82 percent) currently in need of more effective orchestration. Cost (cited by 55 percent) and choosing the most appropriate partner (51 percent) are the two greatest perceived hurdles to achieving this. Nearly all the sample (91 percent) wants to move workloads between clouds more easily.

As multi-cloud gains traction, visibility and control are the top priorities
When it comes to the benefits of orchestrating multi-cloud environments, the need for visibility and control (62 percent) is the top expectation, followed by cost savings (49 percent) and the need to provide a consistent user experience (46 percent). Cost savings have jumped up the list of expected benefits, ahead of governance, which featured as a top-three benefit last year².

The survey underlines that cloud delivery is truly embedded as a strategic aspect of business today, with nearly seven out of 10 (67 percent) saying they are highly dependent on cloud to deliver services to customers. Worryingly, however, more than half of the respondents (53 percent) say they lack the in-house skills to effectively manage their cloud estate.

Duncan Tait, Head of EMEIA at Fujitsu says: “Anyone who thought that cloud diversity is going away needs to reconsider after reading the results from our new study. The clear message from the Fujitsu State of Orchestration 2018/19 survey is that multi-cloud is here to stay – and cloud estates are getting even more complex. Not surprising then that orchestration of diverse multi-cloud estates is rising to the top of IT decision makers’ concerns, as they recognize this is the only way to achieve effective digital transformation. Getting to that goal, they say, is primarily a matter of controlling costs and the importance of choosing the right technology partner for implementation and management/operation partner.”

Notes to editors
¹The State of Orchestration 2018/19 survey, conducted by Direction Group in July 2018 among 253 IT decision makers with responsibility for decisions around cloud and IT infrastructure in organizations with 500+ employees across target sectors (Australia: 40, Finland: 41, Germany: 42, Spain: 40, UK: 45, US: 45)
²Forrester Consulting Study: Service Orchestration: Increasing the Efficiency of Hybrid IT, July 2017: http://www.fujitsu.com/fts/about/resources/news/press-releases/2017/emeai-20171005-clear-service-orchestration-strategy-key-to.html .