6 Key Findings from 2nd Watch’s “Enterprise Cloud Trends” Survey

Does your organization have a glass half full or a glass half empty view? In the recent Enterprise Cloud Trends survey sponsored by 2nd Watch, one half of respondents was confident in their IT organization’s ability to deal with COVID-19 related uncertainty. Which means the other half has concerns with their organization’s ability. So where do you stand? Half full or half empty?

IT has felt the impact of COVID-19 to their business as acutely as any other department. Yet, the latest Enterprise Cloud Trends survey conducted by 2nd Watch indicates that IT has proven to be the most resilient and adaptable of all organizations. Although clear that IT leaders have had to adjust their priorities, they are embracing big-picture efforts that lead to true business transformation and position their companies for long-term success, in spite of the challenges.

The report sheds light on a variety of topics important to IT including the roles of IT in supporting the business due to COVID-19 impact, post pandemic budgets, and how IT is positioning itself to be successful over the next 12 months. Six key findings the report highlights include:

• Support for remote workers is the top enterprise IT challenge
• Companies are accelerating digital transformation and cloud use
• Pre COVID-19 cloud budgets remain mostly intact and are expected to grow
• Cloud security is a growing concern
• There is a shift to more permanent remote workers
• Some cloud related technologies will emerge stronger than ever

Support for remote workers

Have you felt the impact of supporting remote workers? Survey respondents indicated that remote worker access into corporate systems and managing the complexity and support of remote workers were the biggest challenge they have faced. The shift of supporting a growing number of remote workers is a recurring theme through out the report.

Accelerating digital transformation

Surprising to the authors, enterprises are accelerating digital transformation and cloud use. Survey responses indicated that 40% of IT departments are accelerating their digital transformation efforts. Progressive companies see this time as a way to embrace tools to better connect with customers and achieve faster time-to-market.

Cloud budget impact

How has your IT budget been impacted by COVID-19? A majority of the respondents indicated that their budget has either remained the same or grown, with more growth forecasted over the next 12 months. IT is seen as the organization that can lead.

Rising security concern

With growth in supporting remote workers and cloud spend comes a growing concern in cloud security. Over 75% of respondents indicated that cloud security is a top priority. It’s only logical that the increased access provided to employees will lead to additional security concerns.

Shift to remote workers

Although security is of concern to supporting remote workers, businesses are moving more employees to permanent remote status. Survey responses indicated that there will be an 11.8% increase in permanent remote workers. And IT is at the forefront of supporting this shift.

Cloud related technologies are the focus

Four distinct technologies seem to be getting more focus as we shift to a post-COVID-19 environment, including:

• Data Management / Analysis
• Edge Computing
• Content Delivery Networks
• Multi-Cloud Solutions

Conclusion

IT is being called on to enable their companies to not only survive the business impact of COVID-19, but to thrive. Download the 2nd Watch Enterprise Cloud Trends report to gain insight from your peers and justification for making the strategic moves to support your business’ strategic initiatives going forward.

-Michael Elliott, Sr Director, Product Marketing