1、From insights to action,the path to extraordinary value starts here.Reaching the inflection point to long-sought valueThe race to cloud:2 Over the past two years,theres been a surge in cloud commitment:More than 86%of companies report increasing the scope and volume of their cloud initiatives in tha

2、t time.Achieving full cloud value is at a tipping point for those who are committed to the journey with heavy adopters fully achieving expected outcomes at a higher rate.The journey continues beyond migration,to utilizing the power of cloud,for those who remain committed.Nearly 7 in 10 companies(68%

3、)report that their cloud efforts are ongoing.Some leaders may feel in“cloud transformation limbo”:The low-hanging fruit has been picked,so theyre moving more complex and business-critical systems to accelerate cloud value.But theyre still not fully there,and stubborn barriers remain.The uptick in cl

4、oud investments weve seen over the past two years will continue to pay higher dividends.Five key practices can help companies overcome persistent barriers and tip the scales towards full value achievement.The story in briefThe race to cloud:Reaching the inflection point to long sought value3 3The ra

5、ce to cloud:Reaching the inflection point to long sought valueThe past two years have represented a period of dramatically compressed transformation.Commitment to the cloud surged as companies came under immense pressure to prepare their businesses to thrive amid rapid change and become more competi

6、tive for the future.The COVID-19 pandemic was an inflection point,turning cloud from an attractive option to an urgent mandate.Buttressed by an era of economic abundance,companies embarked on their cloud missions with big ambitions.They committed to the cloud providers,signed big deals,developed mor

7、e ambitious goals for how cloud would deliver immense growth,agility and efficiency for their businesses.Today,companies find themselves at a new inflection point:much of the low-hanging fruit has been harvested and now theyre reaching higher.Organizations must now shift the focus from simply“gettin

8、g there”to“getting value”and then“operating in the Cloud Continuum”to not only fully realize their anticipated outcomes,but to unlock the next level of innovation and business opportunity.A critical juncture in the cloud journey4Our latest“state of the market”research surveyed business and IT leader

9、s across the globe to discover how far along their companies are on their cloud journeys,and how much value they report seeing from their cloud investments.This research builds upon our 2020 and 2018 inquiries into the same topic.1,2 The results tell a story of significant progress,with full value s

10、till waiting at the summit.Today,nine in ten respondents report achieving some degree of their expected outcomes.Yet,despite the unprecedented surge in cloud investment,full achievement of expected outcomes has climbed to just 42%,but up from 37%in 2020.Its not time to rest on our laurels,especially

11、 with the same stubborn barriers standing in the way:security risks,complexity,lack of skills,legacy systems and more.The race to cloud:Reaching the inflection point to long sought valueBut this commitment to cloud exposes ground left to cover on the road to full value.Our research attempts to shed

12、light on that journey and explore what lies ahead for companies on the path to reinvention.The grand-scale surge in cloud investments is promising,opening the door to a much broader set of opportunities.86%of companies increased the volume and scope of their cloud initiatives over two years.While 32

13、%of companies see their cloud journeys as complete and are satisfied with outcomes,the remainder(68%)are still progressing on their cloud journeys.The most respondents,43%,indicated that they would allocate additional funds to“enhanced data analytics and AI.”42%,on average,report fully achieving exp

14、ected cloud outcomes,up from 37%in 2020.Heavy adopters continue to outperform,with 47%reporting fully achieving their outcomes.Top barriers to cloud value are“security and compliance risks”and“complexity of business and operational change,”with 41%placing them in their top three overall.“Legacy appl

15、ication modernization”follows closely at 39%.Data highlights6An unprecedented commitment to cloud Enterprise leaders,both in business and tech,have long acknowledged cloud as a key enabler of digital transformation.But the pressures of these tumultuous past yearsthe global pandemic,changes in the wa

16、y we work and operate,increased market volatility,supply chain breakdowns,etc.have driven a surge in committing workloads to the cloud,spurred by a desire to both stay afloat and get ahead.Take top Belgian insurance company,AXA,for example,who wanted to further transform their claims capabilities by

17、 migrating to the cloud.In nine months,Accenture helped them migrate 14 environments,15 claims-related applications,more than 50 batch pipelines and over 20 operational dashboards to an AWS architecture.As a result,AXA has achieved improved customer service plus new levels of agility and cost transp

18、arency.In over 90%of cases,their clients now receive coverage and insurance intervention confirmation within just four hours,and 20%of the full claims volume is now handled via straight-through processing.The race to cloud:Reaching the inflection point to long sought valueSimilarly,Danish brewer Car

19、lsberg committed to and successfully migrated 100%of their global workloads to the cloud.Moving to the cloud was the critical first step to carrying out its digital transformations and achieving its goal of intelligent operations.This included a“connected bar”solution that introduced a new,sustainab

20、le,lighter-weight beer keg with IoT sensors to gauge real-time consumption and link directly with marketing campaigns.In addition,it enabled a“smart brewery”solution using IoT sensors to identify problems during the production process and automatically issue maintenance requests,minimizing service d

21、isruptions and optimizing production.Looking at the research,a full 86%of companies we surveyed report an increase in the volume and/or scope of their cloud initiatives since 2020.Those who already had one foot in the cloud seem to be jumping in further.Sixty-two percent of this years respondents re

22、port being“heavy adopters.”3 In 2020,just 11%of respondents were“heavy adopters.”The race to cloud:Reaching the inflection point to long sought value7The data concerning where workloads reside reinforces this trend:On average,50%of workloads are committed to the public cloud,compared to 35%in early

23、20214.Private clouds are the destination for 32%of workloads on average(including both private and virtual private models).And when it comes to getting to the cloud,hybrid and multi-cloud are the new normal.Almost all cloud users report using both public+private(hybrid)clouds and a large percentage

24、are using multiple public cloud providers(multi-cloud).Still,a substantial number of workloads remain on legacy systems.Theres work to be done in terms of getting more business-critical applications migrated and unlocking the clouds full potential.8The race to cloud:Reaching the inflection point to

25、long sought valueFull value on the horizonCompanies that made the mad dash to the cloud over the past two years were looking to drive greater resilience,efficiency and growth.They were seeking to build the agility to tackle current challenges and drive ongoing competitive advantage.The performance d

26、ata shows that greater value is being achieved,but more effort is needed for the majority of companies to fully achieve their cloud aspirations.While nine out of ten companies report achieving most or all of their expected cloud value,only 42%,on average,report fully achieving expected outcomes acro

27、ss five value levers(a five percentage-point increase over 2020).9The race to cloud:Reaching the inflection point to long sought value10The race to cloud:Reaching the inflection point to long sought valueFigure 1Percent of companies reporting they have fully achieved their expected cloud outcomes ac

28、ross reports202220202018Fully AchievedCost savings39%37%34%Speed(e.g.,introduction of new products or services,etc.)42%40%36%Business enablement(innovation,data access and analytics)45%36%35%Improved service levels(e.g.,provisioning)43%32%34%Resilience/Business continuity42%33%n/aAverage42%37%35%111

29、1The race to cloud:Reaching the inflection point to long sought valueThe most promising data point:Business enablement is the most realized outcome,with 45%reporting theyve fully achieved the expected value.Thats a nine percentage-point increase over 2020.Business enablement offers the greatest valu

30、e upside:unlocking core digital capabilities and ongoing innovation needed to exploit new opportunities.Meanwhile,cost savings remains the most elusive of the outcomes.Only 39%reported fully achieving their expectations in that departmenta mere two percentage-point increase over 2020.While this is p

31、erhaps the most frustrating finding for many,as cost For example,Accenture recently worked with a leading retail company that had big cloud ambitions:We partnered with Oracle to move 80%of their critical applications to the cloud.In parallel,Accenture cloud advisors worked to optimize the companys o

32、perating expenses and meet their cloud goal of 27%cost reduction and payback within 16 months.In short,as cloud environments become more complex,the ability to control spending becomes more critical.As does shifting the conversation from cloud cost to cloud value.effectiveness was one of the early s

33、elling points for cloud,it may not be unexpected.The lag can be attributed,at least in part,to the rapid investments that most have undertakenimmediate costs,but not necessarily instant savings.In order to achieve cost benefits,organizations must modernize to a more cloud-native mindset.This include

34、s modern architectures and operating models,utilizing FinOps and a Continuum Control Plane to provide transparency and the means of managing todays complex IT environment.As complexity increases,so too can cost if these critical elements of the value equation are missing.12Who is achieving more?Clou

35、d gains may be slowbut they are significant.Companies are gradually unlocking full value.Not surprisingly,those achieving greater outcomes are the ones further along in the cloud.Heavy adopters continue to fully achieve their outcomes more frequently,47%on average,than moderate(36%)or low adopters(2

36、1%).Yet,even among the heavy adopters,the increase in fully achieved outcomes isnt progressing as quickly as desired,indicative of indicative of greater challenges associated with greater ambitions.The race to cloud:Reaching the inflection point to long sought valuezzHeavy AdoptersModerate AdoptersL

37、ow AdoptersOutcomeFully AchievedCost savings43%30%38%Speed(e.g.,introduction of new products or services,etc.)46%36%24%Business enablement(innovation,data access and analytics)50%38%10%Improved service levels(e.g.,provisioning)48%37%24%Resilience/Business continuity46%38%10%Average47%36%21%Figure 2P

38、ercent of companies who report fully achieving expected cloud outcomes by adoption level13While heavy adoption does correlate to higher outcomes across every value lever,the time may have come to move away from adoption as the primary measure of success.As will be discussed,the complexity associated

39、 with extracting value from migrating more business-critical workloads can be challenging,thus simply“getting to cloud”doesnt guarantee the value expected.One bright spot the data uncovered is that you dont always have to make the journey on your own.Higher achievement levels also correlate with gre

40、ater use of third-party managed services:Almost half(45%)of companies fully achieving their outcomes are using managed services to a great degree.Thats because using managed services can quickly unblock avenues to value.Case in point:Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board(MSRB)found that employing ma

41、naged services after a major cloud migration allowed their own engineers to shift their focus to more mission-critical and value-adding functions.The race to cloud:Reaching the inflection point to long sought valueEmbracing the Cloud ContinuumToday,cloud is much more than a mandate for operating in

42、a digital worldits where breakthrough innovation and transformation take place.It has evolved into a dynamic continuum of powerful capabilities,from public to edge and everything in between.Todays companies must ask themselves not only what business problems can be solved using cloud,but what new po

43、ssibilities cloud can open up for their businesses.Getting full value from the cloud requires a commitment to continuous reinvention,supported by advanced Cloud Continuum practices.This means learning new skills,embracing new technologies,becoming savvier in cloud strategies.A Continuum mindset is n

44、eeded to stay ahead of competitors and take advantage of ever evolving opportunities.14The race to cloud:Reaching the inflection point to long sought value15To gauge how companies today are approaching cloud,we asked them to describe the current state of their cloud journeys.About a third of respond

45、ents(32%)see their cloud journeys as complete and are satisfied with their abilities to meet current business goals.Still more(41%)acknowledge their cloud journeys are ongoing and continue to evolve to meet changing business needs.Business and IT leaders vary substantially in their views on the stat

46、e of their companies cloud journeys:44%of business leaders consider their journeys complete vs.27%of IT leaders.Meanwhile,45%of IT leaders consider their cloud journeys evolving vs.34%of business leaders.Of all those who call their journeys“complete,”79%report being heavy adopters and 49%report full

47、y achieving their expected outcomes on average.The most realized outcome was business enablement(54%).Of all those who continue to evolve to meet business needs,60%report being heavy adopters and 42%report fully achieving their expected outcomes on average.The most realized outcomes were business en

48、ablement and improved service levels(tied at 45%).The race to cloud:Reaching the inflection point to long sought value16The race to cloud:Reaching the inflection point to long sought valueWe are defining a comprehensive cloud vision.45%40%35%30%25%20%15%10%5%0%We are building the skills to fully exe

49、cute our cloud vision.We are creating and deploying an effective operating model that addresses the complexity of our business.We have largely achieved our cloud objectives but are continually evolving our tools and operating model to meet changing business needs.We have completed our move to cloud

50、and are satisfied with the ability of our current state to meet our business goals.9%9%9%41%32%Figure 4How companies best describe the current stage of their cloud journeysAt a glance,it looks like those who consider their cloud journeys complete are outperforming those who continue to evolveand the

51、 data does support that.However,we believe that companies are missing out on larger value opportunities by declaring their cloud journeys at a close.The rapid pace of technological innovation is redefining the landscape of whats possible.And in fact,the“completed”group reports spending less IT resou

52、rces on innovation and business reinvention than the“continually evolving”set:40%vs.44%.Future-minded companies are growing,adapting,learning,changing as opportunities and risks arise.By considering their journeys complete,many companies are leaving value on the table and putting themselves at risk.

53、In a dynamic market environment,those that stand still get left behind.Wherever companies believe they are today,the cloud journey is almost certainly not over.Organizations must get clear on their end goals in order to accelerate value.They need to focus on specific cloud use cases to drive their b

54、usiness goals and adapt operations as needed.17The race to cloud:Reaching the inflection point to long sought value18Navigating a collection of stubborn barriersCompanies that have responded to the cloud imperative are closer to full value than ever,but much still lies just outside of their grasp.Wi

55、th so many companies dialing up their cloud efforts,why is value not rising at pace?Perhaps the explanation is simple:With greater complexity come greater challenges.In the early stages of cloud,companies tend to move smaller,less critical workloads that are easier to manage.Now that companies are f

56、urther along on their adoption journeys,they are moving and modernizing more critical applications at the very core of their businesses.Migrating the business-critical workloadsand knowing where to place them to deliver the most valueis often the most challenging,not to mention time and resource int

57、ensive.The race to cloud:Reaching the inflection point to long sought valueThis points to another persistent challenge:acquiring and retaining the skills needed to migrate,manage and operate within the cloud.To sustain value from their cloud efforts,companies must be prepared to transform their peop

58、le and processes in tandem.One thing is clear,theres no single barrier holding companies backall of the challenges companies have been struggling with for the past several years persist.The race to cloud:Reaching the inflection point to long sought value19Top 3#1 overallFigure 3Barriers preventing c

59、ompanies from fully achieving their cloud outcomes(with percent citing as a Top 3 concern and#1 concern)We are uncertain about how to address data sovereignty and related regulations.45%40%35%30%25%20%15%10%5%0%Our organization lacks the necessary cloud skills.IT and business are misaligned.Uncertai

60、nty over where to place workloads(on prem,public cloud,private cloud,edge).Legacy infrastructure is a bottleneck.Business and operational change(i.e.,defining and implementing new operating model)are too complex.Legacy applications need modernization.There are too many security and compliance risks.

61、9%11%12%12%12%14%14%15%31%36%32%38%34%41%39%41%20“Security and compliance risks”and“complexity of business and operational change”are cited as the top barriers this year,with 41%placing them in their top three overall.“Legacy application modernization”follows closely with 39%listing it in their top

62、three barriers.While“lack of cloud skills”is not the highest barrier to value,over one-third of companies(36%)rate it a top three concernno change since 2020.A lack of cloud-savvy talent will certainly keep companies from completing higher-value activities.The race to cloud:Reaching the inflection p

63、oint to long sought valueRelative to prior reports,security and complexity continue to be among the most frequently cited barriers.And,like our 2020 report,all barriers are reported in a relatively narrow band of 10%from top to bottom.Further comparison shows the biggest movement among top three bar

64、riers to be“misalignment between business and IT”and“data sovereignty concerns,”each dropping eight percentage-points from their 2020 values.Yet each is still named by nearly one in three companies as a top barrier.21While some challenges have dropped incrementally,none have fallen below 30%.Nor hav

65、e any risen to definitive front-runner status.The slight movement among these common barriers,and the fact that theres such a small delta between them,suggests that companies are dealing with a cadre of challenges.This is typical of any major transformation:When dealing with multiple obstacles at on

66、ce,solving for anything less than all of them can result in diminished returns.The fact that companies continue to make steady progress against such a formidable collection of barriers shines a favorable light on the data.The race to cloud:Reaching the inflection point to long sought value22Getting“

67、unstuck”With cloud maturity growing and technology skills and resources evolving,how is it that common hurdles remain such a challenge to overcome?Pressure to migrate and the lure of clouds potential may accelerate movementbut that doesnt mean the barriers duck out of the way.There has been much gre

68、ater demand on companies to evolve into cloud-first organizations while simultaneously expanding the scope and scale of their initiatives.And most are still spending more on keeping the lights on than on innovating in the cloud.The race to cloud:Reaching the inflection point to long sought value22Th

69、e race to cloud:Reaching the inflection point to long sought valueIn fact,the IT executives we surveyed report that 57%of all IT resources are spent on maintenance of existing systems and processes,and 43%on business reinvention and innovation.That doesnt mean theyre on the wrong track.They just nee

70、d to get more strategic about how to move forward.The path to business resilience is through reinvention.Cloud provides the foundation for that reinvention.Companies that replatform at scale and embrace cloud as a new operating model will outpace their competitors and gain business-critical flexibil

71、ity and agility to continuously adapt to business needs and an ever-changing market.But pressure to move to the cloud quickly is resulting in deferred value.Companies are taking on more complexity,perhaps without a clear understanding of their end goals and what it takes to address a portfolio of ch

72、allenges.23In order to tip the scales towards innovation and reinvention,companies need a more holistic and orchestrated approach to prioritizing and overcoming the manifold roadblocks to realized value.Looking Ahead:Aspirations for business reinvention24The race to cloud:Reaching the inflection poi

73、nt to long sought value24Its clear that companies are seeing the value that lies beyond the inflection point:When asked where they would spend additional funds for business reinvention,most respondents,43%,indicated that they would allocate additional funds to“enhanced data analytics and AI.”These c

74、ompanies seem to recognize that the ability to leverage data to drive value is the new frontier for building competitive advantage.Take global pharmaceutical company,Novartis,for example,who focused their recent cloud efforts on upgrading their data capabilities.Their new cloud-powered analytics pla

75、tform,supported by ML and AI,has enabled the creation of innovative use cases and data models.Use case development time has also plummeted from 10 days to just three.Next on the list of reinvention priorities are“modernizing legacy applications”(37%)and“upskilling talent for the cloud”(35%).This is

76、telling,as both are prerequisites for taking advantage of more complex opportunities in the cloud.Regardless of where companies are on their cloud journeys,there are many roads that will lead to greater value.Organizations are looking towards advanced use cases for cloud,while simultaneously trying

77、to enhance their cloud capabilities and update existing systems.25The race to cloud:Reaching the inflection point to long sought valueModernizing legacy and/or mainframe applicationsUpskilling/reskilling talent to better leverage cloud capabilities and technologiesCustomer experienceNew product/serv

78、ice revenue stream opportunitiesGreater organizational efficienciesIncubate emerging technologiesEmployee experienceDeveloping platform businesses(e.g.,Uber,Airbnb)37%35%34%33%32%32%27%26%43%Enhanced data analytics and AIFigure 5Where companies would spend additional investments for business reinven

79、tion(percent reporting as a Top 3 priority)26Cracking the value codeThe timing was right for companies who did the work of committing significant resources and effort to the cloud over the past two years.Today,were exiting the era of economic abundance and entering one of greater uncertainty.Thus,ev

80、ery dollar spentcloud or otherwisemust go through rigorous qualification.It is increasingly important that companies“crack the code”to cloud value and identify specific use cases on which to focus their efforts.Cloud leaders must look beyond using cloud to simply drive cost savingsthey must think st

81、rategically about cloud as a force for change and growth.That requires balancing the immediate business needs that cloud can solve for with recognizing new possibilities that cloud offers.The cloud enables companies to do things they werent able to;it creates new avenues to value that might not have

82、 been considered.Driving real businesses agility,efficiency and growth in the cloud requires strong commitment and a strategic approach.There are five key practices companies should embrace in order to achieve peak value and unlock future opportunities.The race to cloud:Reaching the inflection point

83、 to long sought value27Pursue business and industry advantageby utilizing the full power of cloud as a force for change.Prioritize use cases according to time-to-value and align investments with emerging business strategies.Design and orchestrate in the Cloud Continuum,embracing cloud as an operatin

84、g model and a strategic enbaler.Success hinges on an organizations ability to adopt the right mix of capabilities and services across the Cloud Continuum.Unleash new value from data and AI.This was the number one initiative that our respondents said they would spend additional investments on,and for

85、 a reason:Data excellence is the new frontier of industry competitiveness.Generating the right insights across the enterprise will help companies compete and grow sustainably.Master cloud economics.In an environment of increasing cloud complexity,companies must master and optimize their cloud spend.

86、This requires not only transparency and oversight,but also shifting the conversation from cloud cost to cloud value.Reimagine your operating model and people.Technology alone will not sustain cloud value.Companies must transform their people andprocesses in tandemfrom ways of working toorganizationa

87、l culturesin order to thrive in the Cloud Continuum.Five practices for maximizing cloud valueAlso,dont underestimate the critical role that leadership has to play in stewarding cloud-first transformation.This requires not only embracing best practices and aligning on cloud goals,but demonstrating un

88、relenting commitment to following through.By doing so,C-suite leaders can usher in a new era of accelerated value for their businesses.The race to cloud:Reaching the inflection point to long sought valueConclusion2828The race to cloud:Reaching the inflection point to long sought valueCommitment to t

89、he cloud has soared in just two years and achieving full value is within closer reach.Grasping it requires a mindset shift,a focus on the journey rather than the destination.Cloud is a muscle that you keep on building.There is a heavy lift involved in transforming existing technology to the cloudbut

90、 countless opportunities once youre there.The trick is identifying the right opportunities and having the fortitude to keep going when the going seems toughor slow.A cloud-first organization is one that thinks not only about how cloud can fundamentally reinvent their business,but also how their busi

91、ness needs to be reinvented for cloud.In other words,organization must think about cloudfirst.In doing so,they will see not only the opportunities available today,but those that cloud,and new technologies,are yet to uncover.Todays cloud-minded companies are looking at more complex opportunities to a

92、dvance value:expanding their hybrid/multi-cloud footprint,evolving mission-critical applications and data capabilities,creating new cloud-native business platforms,unlocking the power of emerging technologies.Opportunities lie in wait across the Cloud Continuum to deliver not just greater efficiency

93、,but better experiences and real business growth.We have arrived at an inflection point on the journey.Migrating to cloud is a necessary but insufficient step in cultivating full value.The challenge now will be in defining the right use cases centered on a much broader definition of value,and using

94、cloud as an operating system to bring together data,AI,applications,infrastructure and security to optimize operations and accelerate growth.Cloud is a journey,along which companies will continue to cultivate new capabilities and skillsand hopefully enjoyment in all new value-discoveries.References1

95、 Sky high hopes:Navigating the barriers to maximizing cloud value(2020)2 Perspectives on Cloud Outcomes:Expectation vs.Reality(2018)3 “Heavy adopters”report more than 75%workloads committed to the cloud(including public and private).“Moderate adopters”report 30-75%workloads committed to the cloud.“L

96、ow adopters”report less than 30%workloads committed to the cloud.4 Ever-ready for every opportunity:Cloud Continuum Research 202029The race to cloud:Reaching the inflection point to long sought valueAbout Accenture Accenture is a global professional services company with leading capabilities in digi

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