HCLTech report reveals cloud's pivotal role in business modernisation

New research from HCLTech reveals that Cloud is not just a technology investment, but is fundamental to how businesses modernise.

HCLTech, a leading global technology company, has released its report, 'Cloud Evolution: Mandate to Modernize,' providing an in-depth look at how enterprises are evolving their cloud strategies to foster innovation and business transformation.

"Cloud is not just a technology investment; it is fundamental to how businesses modernize. The convergence of cloud, GenAI and the acceleration provided by cloud native practices is essential to how enterprises operate, enabling rapid decision-making, enhancing customer experiences and driving competitive advantage," stated Siki Giunta, Executive Vice President and Head of Cloud Native Centre of Excellence at HCLTech. "Embracing cloud native architectures and platform engineering is essential for enterprises aiming to build a robust, future-proof IT landscape that supports continuous innovation. By refactoring applications and leveraging cloud native disciplines and practices, businesses can unlock unprecedented levels of agility, scalability and resilience."

The report found that enterprises are now 2.2 times more likely to adopt a deliberate multicloud strategy compared to three years ago. A notable 87% of enterprises are now using more than one cloud provider, with an average of three providers underpinning their multicloud strategies. This shift underscores the growing recognition of the need for flexibility and redundancy within cloud infrastructure. Furthermore, 85% of enterprises indicate that within the next year, they will likely collaborate with additional cloud providers beyond their current engagements. Despite the rise in public cloud adoption, 81% of enterprises revealed their intention to maintain significant on-premises infrastructure due to data security and regulatory requirements, underscoring the importance of a hybrid cloud strategy.

Application modernisation has emerged as a critical priority for realising the full value of the public cloud. The report highlighted that 80% of enterprises agree that applications must be modernised when they are migrated to the cloud rather than simply lifting and shifting them. Furthermore, 73% of enterprises are actively refactoring applications during cloud migration, reflective of the growing shift towards cloud native modernisation. Additionally, 78% agree that cloud native approaches result in significant improvements.

Custom Generative AI (GenAI) solutions are also driving cloud adoption. The study found that 98% of enterprises are exploring custom GenAI solutions on the cloud and are incorporating cloud native practices to modernise applications for cloud. Nevertheless, 55% of these enterprises stated that data for custom GenAI solutions resides on-premises, leading organisations to initially run some solutions on-premises and then scale to the cloud over time.

Third-party consultancy has proven beneficial for many enterprises, with 83% reporting substantial improvements in IT efficiency and application performance by partnering with third-party consultants. Rampal Singh, Vice President and Global Business Head of Hybrid Cloud at HCLTech, commented, "IT operations need to be seamless across cloud environments and enterprises that invest in open solutions can enable such consistency while significantly mitigating the complexities of multicloud. The findings of our study emphasise the necessity for enterprises to approach cloud as the foundational platform for deploying AI-driven solutions that will shape the future of industries."

HCLTech's CloudSMART strategy is designed to deliver significant business outcomes from cloud investments by leveraging its deep engineering expertise and partnerships with leading cloud providers. This strategy aims to implement modern cloud best practices and enable ongoing modernisation. The company's AI & Cloud Native Labs assist enterprises in their modernisation and cloud transformation journeys by adopting a hands-on, consultative approach within a fully equipped lab environment.

The study is based on a survey of 500 senior business and technology leaders from various industries and regions. The research was commissioned by HCLTech and conducted by the global analyst firm ESG through interviews with business and technology leaders.