Multicloud complexity and related costs on the rise

Today's multicloud is a mix of clouds that don't communicate well. As multicloud complexity and the related costs are on the rise, the friction leads to data lock-in, and the resulting loss of business value. But it doesn't have to be that way, according to a new industry report.

The Multicloud Maturity Report from Seagate Technology Holdings demonstrates that it is crucial and possible to both minimise data costs and maximise data-driven innovation in the multicloud.

Drawing on an original global survey of senior IT and business leaders, commissioned by Seagate and conducted by Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG), the report constructs a unique Multicloud Maturity Model. The model shows how organisations navigate the growing multicloud complexity. It reveals that the most multicloud-mature companies derive the greatest business benefits.

Multicloud-mature organisations - ones that best manage cloud costs and foster innovation with the cloud - outperform their peers at business. Among other results, they:  

• Beat their revenue goals by nearly twice as much as their less mature counterparts. 
• Are 6.3 more likely to go to market months or quarters ahead of their competition. 
• Are almost 3 more likely to report that their organisation is in a very strong business position. 
• Are more than 3 more likely to expect their companies valuation to increase fivefold over the next 3 years. 

"When trying to prove the connection between actions and outcomes with research, you never really know if your hypothesis will be borne out," says Adam DeMattia, senior director of custom research at ESG.

"The report makes it clear that an organisation, by its actions, can move the needle both on cloud costs and innovation outcomes.

"What is unique in this research is how we see the combination of both taking action on cloud costs and promoting innovation with cloud operations models can be tied back to a dramatic impact on the overarching health of the business."

Seagate CEO Dave Mosley says the global datasphere doubles in size every three years.

"How we treat all this data matters. It should no longer be acceptable that companies can afford to save and use only a fraction of their data," he says.

"The more organisation leaders see data as vital business currency, the easier it will be for their companies to find a way to greater business value."

In its report, Seagate offers a data-centric lens on the multicloud. Invariably, companies that scale successfully are the ones that put data at the core of all they do. The most mature multicloud strategies are data-centric strategies. In many ways, innovation is about eliminating friction that slows down and locks in data - whether its cost- or access-related friction. Multicloud is, for many organisations, a given. Its many sources of friction are optional.