The need to support high velocity development, operations, and security processes across cloud native architectures to accelerate software iterations has contributed significantly to the evolution of CIO roles. No longer overseeing reactive, service-oriented IT organizations of the past, these IT executives are directly impacting revenue goals by enabling secure world-class user experiences built on multi-cloud configurations. While most users don’t give app performance a second thought until a glitch arises and remain largely unaware of the frenetic pace challenging application delivery—CIOs understand the big picture impact when 62% of users uninstall underperforming apps1. Thus, the benefits of multi-cloud are top priority for today’s CIOs.
In partnership with Forbes Insights, we examined key concerns and opportunities for 600 CIOs as they navigate multi-cloud adoption over the next three years2. Here’s an overview of the findings:
CIO Insights: Multi-Cloud is Inevitable
Alongside artificial intelligence and machine learning, CIOs agree that multi-cloud will be a top industry-impacting factor by 2025. Nearly all respondents report having a cloud strategy in place with over half (64%) believing multi-cloud will help accelerate innovation—but only 54% report current workloads deployed across multiple public clouds. A quick look at the uptake shows 90% of CIOs surveyed expect to be in the throes of multi-cloud adoption within the next five years. There is no room for argument—the benefits of multiple cloud are too good to ignore.
Delivering Irresistible Customer Experiences
The need for security, continuity, and scalability are not surprising considering its customer experience that’s driving profitability in the digital economy and CIOs bear a great deal of the burden for ensuring user retention. This includes leveraging tech for superior omni and multi-channel customer experiences built on a multi-cloud configuration that gives technologists access to any combination of public, private, and edge services they need. Summit Dhawan, President of VMware, encourages CIOs to take an active role in making strategic business decisions that enable cross-functional collaboration and integrated DevOps as a platform upon which customers are consistently at the forefront of application development and delivery.
CIO Concerns: Why the Hesitancy?
APAC currently dominates the race to multi-cloud by a large margin, which is predicted to change over the next five years as more CIOs embrace multi-cloud as the only way to eliminate business risks tied to dependency on one cloud provider’s capacity. Despite the known upside, hesitancy remains for more than half (65%) of CIOs who show concern that cross cloud management will be prohibitively difficult without sufficient controls and oversight. With the current state of user demand for superior application experiences and the need to compete, multi-cloud is fast becoming a requirement rather than an option. Those leveraging it are reaping the benefits while mitigating challenges by implementing a cloud control solution (CCS) that removes innovation roadblocks by aggregating disparate cloud management into one tool.
Discover more insights into how CIOs are tackling the challenges of multi-cloud to achieve business-critical goals. Download: The CIO of 2025: Multicloud is a Must Have
1. Zippia. “40 Fascinating Mobile App Industry Statistics [2022]: The Success of Mobile Apps in the U.S.” April 5, 2022.
2. Forbes Insights. “The CIO of 2025: Multicloud is a must-have.” 2022.
