One in Three Cloud Migrations in Australia Fail to Meet Expectations Because Organisations Do Not Make Cloud Part of Their Core Strategy – First Unisys Cloud Success Barometer™
Australian organisations that integrate cloud into broader business transformation strategy are 41% more likely to succeed with cloud migration compared to those who do not
SYDNEY, Australia, 20 November 2019 – More than one third (36%) of Australian organisations say they have failed to realise notable benefits from cloud computing, largely because they have not integrated their migration plan into their broader business transformation strategy, according to a new study by Unisys Corporation (UIS).
The first Unisys Cloud Success Barometer™ study explores the impact and importance of cloud by surveying more than 1,000 senior IT and business leaders in 13 countries around the world, including 80 in Australia. Other key findings include:
- Of the 13 countries surveyed, Australia has the highest proportion of organisations (99%) who have moved to the cloud in a least some way, higher than the global average of 93%;
- 70% of Australian organisations say their organisational effectiveness has greatly or moderately improved for the better due to cloud computing;
- This increases to 85% for those organsations for which cloud is a core part of their business strategy, compared to 60% of those who do not;
- More than half of Australian organisations (57%) agree that data is more secure in the cloud than in-house; and security is cited as both the top benefit and greatest challenge for moving data, applications or processes to the cloud.
"These results show why cloud transformation is not just an IT issue, it's a business issue," said Leon Sayers, Regional Consulting Lead, Unisys Asia Pacific. "Australian organisations that integrated cloud as part of their business strategy saw the greatest positive gains to help boost revenue, gain competitive advantage, improve productivity and manage costs. Rather than a 'lift and shift' approach, successful cloud implementations require the right framework in place at the outset, with continual innovation and updates over time."
The Future is Multi-Cloud
Nearly all Australian respondents (99%) say they have migrated to the cloud to some degree.
- Of the four Asia Pacific countries surveyed, Australian organisations report the highest use of private cloud (39%) and public cloud (35%), and lowest use of on-premise data centres (21%);
- However, of the 13 countries surveyed, Australia has the fourth lowest adoption of multi-cloud, used by 25% of respondents, compared to the global average of 28% and well below neighbouring New Zealand (61%) and Singaporean (44%) organisations.
In Australia, organisations using multi-cloud are more likely to see the cloud as being essential to staying competitive:
- Australian multi–cloud users say that if they didn't move to the cloud, they would be somewhat to extremely concerned about being left behind and becoming technologically laggard (60%) and the competition innovating first (45%)
"A multi-cloud strategy offers flexibility and choice, and recognises that not all data and applications need to be treated in the same way," explained Sayers. "A multi-cloud strategy helps organisations gain greater sovereignty over their data, spread their risk in case of downtime and increase the negotiating leverage to shop rates for different service needs from multiple vendors."
2019 Unisys Cloud Success Barometer: Cloud Has Not Met Expectations in Australia
The first Unisys Cloud Success Barometer surveyed more than 1,000 senior business and IT leaders across 13 countries in August and September 2019. Unisys gauged their attitudes on a wide range of cloud performance issues and created a barometer based on their feedback. The barometer score is calculated on a scale from zero to 100, based on how well cloud expectations are being met in six areas across business, competitive and IT benefits.
2019 Unisys Cloud Success Barometer: Looking at How Cloud is Meeting Expectations
The Unisys Cloud Success Barometer score for Australia is 43, the fifth lowest of the 13 countries surveyed, and below the global average of 49.
The top benefits Australian organisations expect to gain by moving to the cloud are the desire for better IT and data security (61%), manage or reduce costs (57%) and faster time to market (47%). Expectations for their cloud implementations were exceeded for better IT and data security (71%), driving innovation (68%) and higher staff productivity (68%).
However, the benefits delivered fell short in the areas of reducing headcount (50%), increasing revenue (48%) and being agile to match demand (47%).
Navigating the Path to Success
The survey identified several factors that improved the likelihood of a successful migration. Australian organisations that used third-party support to help with their cloud adoption were almost 1.5 times more likely to realise organisational improvements for the better (71%) compared to organisations that handled cloud migration in-house (48%).
"While no cloud migration is the same, there are several core building blocks that many successful migrations share. First, organisations must do a thorough planning assessment that looks at anticipated ROI, staff training needs, security risks and identifies where outside expertise is needed. Next, they need to establish a continuous integration/continuous delivery framework leveraging microservices, containers and DevOps. Lastly, having a cloud management portal is critical to providing end-to-end visibility for better monitoring and performance," said Sayers.
For more results and information on the 2019 Unisys Cloud Success Barometer and to download a report on the survey results, visit www.unisys.com/cloudbarometer .
Methodology
The Unisys Cloud Success Barometer online survey of 728 IT leaders and 317 senior business leaders was conducted across 13 countries: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, UK and USA during August-September 2019. The 80 Australian responses are from 60 IT leaders and 20 business leaders.
About Unisys
Unisys is a global information technology company that builds high-performance, security-centric solutions for the most demanding businesses and governments. Unisys offerings include security software and services; digital transformation and workplace services; industry applications and services; and innovative software operating environments for high-intensity enterprise computing. For more information on how Unisys builds better outcomes securely for its clients across the Government, Financial Services and Commercial markets, visit www.unisys.com.au. Follow Unisys on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Contacts:
Emily Nowland, The Impact Agency
+61 2 9519 5411 or +61 0413 942 179 emily@impactagency.com.au
Claire Hosegood, Unisys APAC,
+61 411 253 663, claire.hosegood@au.unisys.com
Unisys and other Unisys products and services mentioned herein, as well as their respective logos, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Unisys Corporation. Any other brand or product referenced herein is acknowledged to be a trademark or registered trademark of its respective holder.