SAN ANTONIO, January 14, 2025 – A new global survey, State of the Cloud 2025 Reportled by Rackspace technologya leader in end-to-end, hybrid, multicloud and AI solutions, notes that enterprises continue to shift from a single-cloud approach to more flexible hybrid cloud environments.
The survey of more than 1,400 IT decision makers found that over 90% plan to make significant changes to their cloud strategy in the next two years. Of these respondents, 48% said a hybrid cloud for multi-environment deployment will be critical to their IT operations in the next 12 to 24 months.
Additionally, the results showed that 22% will accelerate hybrid cloud adoption and 20% plan to invest in private cloud. Respondents said these changes are being driven by a desire to prioritize flexibility, adaptability and resilience amid demand for AI integrations that can improve operational efficiency and data analytics capabilities.
Despite the continued adoption of public clouds, IT teams are not preparing to abandon private clouds. Over two-thirds (69%) of respondents said their organizations have considered moving at least some of their workloads from public clouds back to private clouds or on-premises infrastructure, citing data security and compliance requirements ( 50%) as well as better integration with existing systems (48%) and cost savings (44%) as reasons. Among those who had recently repatriated workloads, nearly 80% of respondents said it had addressed these concerns.
While the importance of cloud implementations is widely recognized, the survey reveals a significant gap in full enterprise adoption. Only 16% of respondents said cloud adoption is fully integrated into their business strategy and aligned with their business goals, provided advanced areas of practice are in place. This group, referred to in the report as “Cloud Leaders,” reported that their cloud environments exceeded expectations at 62%, compared to just 37% of all survey respondents.
Additionally, survey responses revealed that the “Cloud Leaders” are:
- They are more likely to use a specific cloud platform because it fits well with their overarching cloud strategy.
- Leaders in integrating AI initiatives: 37% use AI-driven cloud optimization to refine their cloud strategy, compared to 25% of others.
- Likely to use comprehensive workload-by-workload analysis to decide where to host all their workloads.
“As AI continues to drive rapid advances, IT leaders are rethinking their approach to workload management. Instead of updating existing infrastructure, they are developing entirely new cloud strategies to meet changing needs,” said Srini Koushik, president of AI, technology and sustainability at Rackspace Technology. “To future-proof their organizations, many are moving from a one-size-fits-all model to a more flexible and resilient multi-strategy approach. This pivotal moment for hybrid and multi-cloud solutions enables organizations to select services tailored to their unique technical needs and workloads.”
A driving force behind the desire for multi-solution approaches is the ease with which companies can move data between different cloud environments. 86% say they can seamlessly transfer workloads between public and private clouds, and 83% say they can do so between multiple public cloud hyperscalers.
AI is the catalyst for next-generation cloud developments
Developing AI initiatives remains a key focus for IT teams. 84% of respondents said they have taken steps to integrate their AI and cloud strategies. When asked about the business outcomes that drove the integration of AI and cloud, 49% said their goal is to increase operational efficiency, while 45% use AI to improve insights gained through data analytics.
Major hurdles remain in the way until cloud and AI strategies are fully implemented
Although IT leaders are optimistic about the prospect of cloud and AI integrations, talent and resource shortages remain major pitfalls that could limit their ability to achieve these goals. 40% of respondents said the lack of qualified cloud talent is a barrier, while 37% said inadequate budgets limit their ability to meet business needs. This trend is consistent with findings from Forrester's 2024 State of Cloud in the US report. Their research found that U.S. enterprise cloud decision makers viewed AI/ML as the most critical area of cloud technology. 24% wanted to hire new staff with expertise in these areas and another 25% plan to retrain existing staff to meet these needs.
“As companies continue to evolve their cloud infrastructure and leverage more complex environments such as hybrid and multi-cloud, the demand for skilled talent is outstripping the supply,” said Ben Blanquera, vice president of technology and sustainability at Rackspace. “Organizations must prioritize upskilling their teams to effectively use the advanced tools essential to modern IT management. Additionally, they can work with cloud experts like Rackspace. Based on the survey results and insights from our customers and partners, it is clear that there is strong and continued demand in the market for professionals with expertise in key areas such as Kubernetes, serverless architectures and cloud security.”
A look into the future: New innovations are coming, but safety remains the focus
According to the survey, companies remain optimistic about their efforts to integrate AI and more advanced cloud strategies. Half of respondents listed cloud-enabled 5G services as one of their top priorities, followed by cloud-native AI/ML services (47%), cloud-based robotics (40%) and cloud-based sustainable computing (34% ).
Data security and compliance remain a key focus, with an overwhelming majority (96%) of organizations surveyed having established procedures and policies for data protection and compliance in cloud environments. 42% of respondents also say they use AI for advanced security and threat detection.
Click Here for the full State of the Cloud 2025 Report white paper.
Survey methodology
The survey, commissioned by Rackspace Technology, was conducted by Coleman Parkes Research in October and November 2024. The results are based on responses from 1,420 IT decision makers in the manufacturing/logistics, retail, hospitality/travel, energy, healthcare/pharma/biomedical, government, media/entertainment and financial services sectors in the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Most companies/organizations surveyed have between 1,000 and more than 10,000 employees and annual sales between $50 and $15 billion. Click here to view additional survey results, a white paper and an infographic Here.
About Rackspace Technology
Rackspace technology is a leading end-to-end hybrid and multicloud technology services company. We design, build and operate our customers' cloud environments across all major technology platforms, regardless of technology stack or deployment model. We work with our customers at every stage of their cloud journey, enabling them to modernize applications, develop new products and introduce innovative technologies.
Source: Rackspace Technology