“The Future of Cloud in Asia Pacific,” a study commissioned by global technology company Cisco highlights the continued acceleration of cloud adoption in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. Conducted by the Boston Consulting Group, the result underscores how companies recognize that the cloud is a long-haul investment in digital acceleration.

According to industry analyst firm Gartner, cloud spending is expected to reach $200 billion in APAC by 2024 with investment into the cloud growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 20% since 2018.

Findings from the study also reveal how organizations in the region are optimizing a mix of public, private, and hybrid cloud environments, based on their unique digital, operational, and business needs and several other factors, including regulatory concerns, risk appetite, geographical expansion, and data needs.

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Cisco noted that the real challenge in today’s digital era is understanding how to manage this transition to the cloud in a smooth, seamless, and secure manner.

Cloud adopters

Breaking down the types of cloud adopters, the Cisco study explored the reasons and characteristics for each archetype so it could better understand the needs of its partners and potential partners.

Digital Native: Organizations that were born in the cloud and built from the ground up on the cloud. Cloud is fully embedded in the business, which is primarily driven by digital- and cloud-first strategies. Public cloud has always been the default choice for them, and through their cloud capabilities, they are able to respond swiftly to the dynamic business landscape with great agility.

Cloud Optimizer: Such organizations are at the forefront of digital transformation initiatives, having moved away from outdated legacy systems to the cloud. They have mature cloud systems in place and typically take a public cloud-first approach.

Cloud Pragmatist: Organizations that are embracing cloud, but generally prefer private over public cloud due to concerns over data and workloads. Due to their priority in maintaining control over their data, risks, and costs, the public cloud is used to a limited extent for non-business critical workloads, while the private cloud is utilized as a strategic asset.

Cautious Adopter: While digital is rising on their agenda, these organizations take a project-based approach to cloud adoption and do not have an enterprise-wide cloud strategy. Leaders have yet to fully understand and embrace the benefits of cloud offerings, resulting in a lack of strategic direction to define a cloud vision.

Cloud Onlooker: These organizations do not currently consider the cloud as a strategic advantage for their business goals but as another form of digital infrastructure. They have no active plans to adopt cloud in their business model and strategy, but leaders could introduce isolated cloud solutions if they believe that to be beneficial to the organization.