Cloud and hybrid working: The investment priorities for enterprises

Over the last two years, IT teams have come under immense pressure, having to quickly rethink their architecture to support home working, and best prepare for a hybrid-working model in the future. As a result, IT spending has never been higher with a total projected spend of $4.4 trillion USD in 2022, an increase of 4 percent on spend in 2021.

Widely accepted hybrid working practices and a reduced intensity of digital transformation projects have been reflected in IT investment decisions. According to A10 Networks’ recent Enterprise Perspectives research, investment in the cloud is a standout priority. This comes in addition to a growing focus on strengthening cybersecurity strategies with the policies and practices that must accompany the shift to an expanded office network/hybrid working environment.

A clear investment in work-from-home models

One of the main operational shifts post-pandemic has been towards a hybrid-working model, whereby employees expect a certain degree of flexibility in their working practices. To attract and retain talent, enterprises need to adapt to this 'new normal' and reflect this in their long term IT strategies.

In response to a survey question on enterprises’ expectations around post-pandemic working practices, our research found that only 14 percent of global respondents say a minority or no employees will work from the office, 24 percent believe there will be a home/office split of 50/50, and the majority (62 percent) envision their workforce will be based in the office.

As a result, businesses have started investing in private and public cloud to fulfill this requirement of hybrid working. With the exception of the US and eastern Europe, A10 Networks’ research underlined private cloud as the most popular choice, to host organizations’ environments, with 30 percent of global respondents using this method. Private cloud is also the preferred cloud environment for organizations dealing with sensitive information, i.e., government bodies and financial institutions, as it enhances the ability to control and monitor their applications, users, and data. 

These findings are further reflected in a recent Gartner report, which indicates that cloud-based services are largely responsible for the 11 percent growth in enterprise software spending.

With cloud services, the long-term reduction in IT spending upon implementation clearly outweighs the upfront cost. This trajectory follows the popular software-as-a-service model that facilitates hybrid working, wherein organizations adopt services that allow flexibility, and ease of access.

Investing in a cloud strategy is a key priority for organizations seeking to provide flexible, efficient services that enable growth and innovation. However, investment in cloud services will be redundant in the long term without stringent security measures built in due to the residual costs of breaches and loss of data. Cloud services must be layered with appropriate security measures to ensure information does not fall into the wrong hands and become an unforeseen extra expenditure in already-strained budgets.

What do future investment priorities look like?

The shift to cloud, more flexible licensing, and pay-as-you-go models mean organizations can gain more value from budgets to drive innovation, a priority highlighted in our enterprise research.

Ultimately, investment should be directed at products and solutions that proactively defend networks, make IT teams more agile, and enable organizations to provide customers with a competitive advantage. Companies have now moved past the initial shock of the pandemic, giving them the opportunity to redirect budgets to focus on service optimization and delivery.

Going forward, implementing effective and secure hybrid cloud solutions will allow organizations the flexibility to scale in the post-pandemic world, empowering them to focus on meeting and surpassing employee and customer requirements, regardless of whatever influences and pressures that the future holds.

Adrian Taylor is Regional VP at A10 Networks.