Australian and New Zealand enterprises global leaders in cloud adoption, Infosys report

  • Australian and New Zealand enterprises lead all surveyed markets in implementing cloud programs across all or most functions of their organisation
  • Legacy systems are the top barrier to cloud implementation
  • Evolving end-customer needs the key driver for embarking on a cloud journey

Infosys (NYSE: INFY), a global leader in next-generation digital services surveyed 196 from organisations with over USD 1 billion in revenues across Australia and New Zealand executives (876 globally) to identify and understand major cloud initiatives, both from strategic as well as implementation perspectives.

Types of enterprise players

The report "Navigate your digital transformation with cloud" assessed the intensity of adopting cloud initiatives relative to the commitment to programs over the next three years and classified the respondents into four groups.

  • Torchbearers: Enterprises that have implemented cloud programs across all or most functions and have goals to be fully integrated and cloud-first.
    • Australia and New Zealand (58%), US (54%), Europe (41%)
  • Pathfinders: Enterprises that have taken the initial step to implement cloud programs in End User Productivity functions but are yet to fully extend the cloud across other functions.
    • Australia and New Zealand (14%), US (18%), Europe (25%)
  • Defenders: Enterprises that are aware of the advantages of cloud but are yet to fully appreciate how it can propel their organisation. These enterprises seldom take a holistic approach and remain satisfied with incremental benefits across business functions.
    • Australia and New Zealand (20%), US (20%), Europe (15%)
  • Aspirants: Enterprises that predominantly remain tactical with a desire to move only parts of their applications landscape to the cloud. They are furthest away from becoming a cloud-first organisation with their narrow approach to the cloud.
    • Australia and New Zealand (8%), US (9%), Europe (19%)

58% of Australia and New Zealand enterprises from the study form the Torchbearer segment. Australia and New Zealand enterprises have always been eager to adopt new technology trends compared to the US (54%) and Europe (41%) and embracing cloud technologies is no exception. In particular, local enterprises are embracing public cloud more than other surveyed markets as 64% report having 25-50% of workloads in a public cloud environment compared with the US (51%) and the UK (46%) highlighting the region's confidence in using existing infrastructure to execute their cloud strategies.

What's happening in Australia

The report also found that the cloud is well entrenched in Australian and New Zealand enterprises as 96% of respondents stated they have implemented a company-wide cloud strategy, leading the US (93%) and the UK (95%). Although with legacy systems still present in most enterprises, it's no surprise that aligning legacy systems (63%) is stated as a top challenge for local enterprises compared to the global average of 59%. As local enterprises continue to lead global markets in cloud programs handling legacy systems will continue to be a key challenge and will require significant investment to work out how to migrate workloads to the cloud.

To better mitigate the legacy challenges, local enterprises are turning to consultants, IT service providers, and cloud solution providers as components of cloud implementation leaning on their experience rather than formulating strategies from within. As a significant 63% of enterprises said external consultants are involved in formulating the technology roadmap for cloud programs.

Australian and New Zealand business leaders also said that major drivers for cloud adoption were evolving end customer needs (55%), reduced costs (54%) and on-demand scaling (52%). Emerging tech & opportunities, competitive activity and partner ecosystems also influenced decisions. When respondents were asked about the strategic outcomes they expect to derive through cloud adoption, reduced time to market (55%), enhanced mobility (55%) & collaboration and experience (52%) are top outcomes desired & also having high immediate focus.

For a full copy of the report, please visit: www.infosys.com/navigate-with-cloud