Topping the list of cloud computing trends 2021 is…drumroll please…cloud optimization!

This is according to data collected by the annual State of Multicloud Survey run by Turbonomic (that’s our parent brand). The survey, using data collected from more than 800 global IT professionals, examines the state of multicloud adoption, its drivers, and the technologies enabling it, including public cloud, containers, and edge computing. Here are a few highlights from the report.

Optimization Remains Top Priority for Public Cloud

As mentioned above, when asked their most important initiative for 2021, survey respondents ranked “optimize existing cloud resources for performance and cost” as their highest priority. We see this need playing out every day as we talk to enterprises, both newly migrated and with years of experience in the cloud. Those who are paying attention are realizing their infrastructure is overprovisioned, running when not needed, or otherwise wasted – to the tune of $26.6 billion wasted this year in all. By making optimization a priority, tech leaders can reallocate wasted spend and achieve more with their budgets.

Advancing a Multicloud Strategy Rated #2

After optimization, the next-highest ranked initiative was “advancing a multicloud strategy”(multiple public clouds with or without private clouds in the mix). Multicloud existence is the reality for most organizations – and 30% of survey respondents are using three or more public clouds today. Research by IDG finds that the most common reported reason for using multiple public clouds is to get the best platform and service options available.

Relevance of PaaS is Growing

Of organizations surveyed, 62% reported that public cloud PaaS will play a strategic role for their business within 18 months. This is supported by research from Gartner, which estimates the PaaS market will grow by 26% this year, driven at least in part by the need for remote workers to have access to scalable infrastructure in the form of modernized and cloud-native applications.

Container Use is Advancing – But Difficult to Scale

For 61% of organizations surveyed, containerization will play a strategic role within 18 months. It is already strategic for nearly 20% today. Of those already implementing containers, 56% are using them in production. For the remainder, operations are difficult to scale due to the complexity introduced and the difficulty to optimize.

Check out the report for the full data for each of these highlights, as well as results about AWS vs. Azure use, container deployment trends, edge computing, and how leaders compare to laggards in cloud services and strategy adoption. Read the 2021 State of Multicloud Report now.

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