Intelligent Data Centres Issue 45 | Page 25

THE POSITIVE NEWS IS THIS DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE STIFLING INNOVATION .
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Over half of UK IT industry pros trust public cloud providers less than than they did two ago , according to research from Leaseweb

easeweb Global , a leading

L hosting and cloud services company , has published the results of research revealing that over half ( 55 %) of UK IT professionals currently trust public cloud services less than they did two years ago , having run into challenges around usage costs , migration and customer service .

The research , which explores 500 UK-based IT professionals ’ experience with public cloud providers over the last two years , raises questions whether hyperscale is the best way forward or viable as a long-term option . Transparency , customer service and the ease of migrating workloads are flagged as potential concerns , despite most respondents saying they had costs under control . Overall , the results indicate a significant trust issue when it comes to public cloud providers .
For example , the majority ( 57 %) of respondents had found it challenging to migrate workloads out of a public cloud environment , while just under half ( 49 %) said they had encountered difficulties in understanding their cloud usage costs . Despite this , nearly three-quarters ( 72 %) agree they have effectively controlled public cloud usage costs , while 46 % stated they ‘ somewhat agree ’. Almost half ( 49 %) had struggled to get hold of a public cloud provider ’ s customer services .
In addition , while cloud is now a key component for many IT infrastructure strategies , ‘ cloud only ’ and ‘ cloud first ’ are not dominant , nor are they considered a panacea for every business need . While there was an increase in the adoption of cloud infrastructure during the pandemic , the study also showed a decrease in support for ‘ cloud first ’ strategies during 2022 .
For instance , in the January 2019-December 2021 ( pre-COVID-19 pandemic ) period , 36 % of organisations described their approach to IT infrastructure as ‘ cloud first ’, with only 19 % stating their organisation was officially committed to a ‘ cloudonly ’ approach . From January 2022 onwards , the ( post-COVID-19 pandemic ) period , ‘ cloud first ’ commitments had decreased to 31 %, with ‘ cloud only ’ rising to 25 % of respondents .
When asked about the optimum IT infrastructure for their organisation , private cloud only ( 23 %) and a mixture of on-premises and public cloud ( 20 %) were the most popular selections . These were followed by public cloud only ( 17 %) and a mixture of on-premises and private cloud ( 14 %), with on-premises only the least popular selection at 7 %.
The move away from on-premises legacy infrastructure is clear , with twothirds ( 66 %) of respondents agreeing that the industry will see the end of onpremises infrastructure over the next two years . The research results indicate that while on-premises is not an important part of IT strategy , it still exists within many organisations ’ environments .
The positive news is this does not appear to be stifling innovation : only 16 % of respondents said that legacy infrastructure was either standing in the way of further cloud adoption or limiting their organisation ’ s ability to make business decisions . Instead , the focus is on deploying applications in

THE POSITIVE NEWS IS THIS DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE STIFLING INNOVATION .

the right place , with a key takeaway from the study being the end of on-premises infrastructure may be approaching , but not quite here . �
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