The story in brief

• Surge in Cloud Commitment: Over the past two years, more than 86% of companies have expanded the scope and volume of their cloud initiatives.
• Tipping Point for Full Value: Organizations deeply invested in cloud adoption are nearing a pivotal moment, with heavy adopters more frequently achieving their expected outcomes.
• Ongoing Cloud Efforts: The journey extends beyond migration; 68% of companies report that their cloud initiatives are still in progress as they seek to fully leverage cloud capabilities.
• Challenges in Transformation: Some leaders find themselves in a “cloud transformation limbo.” After addressing initial, simpler tasks, they now face the complex process of migrating critical systems, with persistent barriers hindering full value realization.
• Maximizing Returns: The recent increase in cloud investments promises greater dividends. Implementing five key practices can help companies overcome existing challenges and achieve complete cloud value.

A critical juncture in the cloud journey

The last two years have marked a period of intense transformation, with companies significantly ramping up their cloud commitments to stay competitive in a rapidly changing environment. The COVID-19 pandemic served as a pivotal moment, shifting cloud adoption from a strategic option to an urgent necessity. Backed by strong economic conditions, businesses embarked on ambitious cloud initiatives, expecting to drive substantial growth, agility, and efficiency.

Now, companies face a new challenge. The initial, simpler cloud tasks have been completed, and they must tackle more complex endeavors. Those who accelerated their transformations during the pandemic are now leveraging that experience to pursue what’s known as Total Enterprise Reinvention—a new imperative focused on continuous innovation and enhanced resilience.

Achieving this level of reinvention requires a robust digital core powered by cloud technology. However, reaching the full potential of cloud investments demands ongoing commitment. Organizations must transition from merely “getting there” to “getting value” and then to “operating on the Cloud Continuum” to unlock even greater innovation.

Our latest global research, based on studies from 2020 and 2018, explores the progress companies have made in their cloud journeys and the value they’ve realized. While nine out of ten respondents report achieving some of their expected outcomes, only 42% have fully met their goals—a modest increase from 37% in 2020. Despite significant strides, challenges like security risks, complexity, skill gaps, and legacy systems continue to hinder full value realization.

An unprecedented commitment to cloud

Enterprise leaders across both business and technology have long recognized the cloud as a critical driver of business transformation. However, the intense pressures of recent years—marked by a global pandemic, shifts in work operations, heightened market volatility, and supply chain disruptions—have accelerated the move to the cloud. This surge is fueled by the need not just to survive, but to thrive.

Take AXA, a leading Belgian insurance company, as an example. They sought to enhance their claims processing capabilities by transitioning to the cloud. In just nine months, Accenture helped AXA migrate 14 environments, 15 claims-related applications, over 50 batch pipelines, and more than 20 operational dashboards to an AWS architecture. As a result, AXA has achieved greater agility, cost transparency, and improved customer service. Today, more than 90% of their clients receive coverage and insurance intervention confirmation within just four hours, and 20% of all claims are now processed automatically through straight-through processing.

Similarly, Danish brewer Carlsberg successfully migrated 100% of their global workloads to the cloud, marking a crucial step in their digital transformation journey toward intelligent operations. This shift enabled innovative solutions like the “connected bar,” which introduced a sustainable, lighter-weight beer keg equipped with IoT sensors to monitor real-time consumption and integrate directly with marketing campaigns. It also facilitated the “smart brewery” solution, where IoT sensors detect production issues and automatically trigger maintenance requests, minimizing disruptions and optimizing output.

According to recent research, 86% of companies report expanding the volume and scope of their cloud initiatives since 2020, with many taking even bigger steps. This year, 62% of respondents identified as “heavy adopters,” a significant increase from just 11% in 2020. The data further shows that on average, 50% of workloads are now in the public cloud, up from 35% in early 2021, while 32% are in private clouds, including both private and virtual private models.

As businesses continue their cloud journeys, hybrid and multi-cloud strategies have become the norm. Nearly all cloud users now utilize both public and private (hybrid) clouds, and many are leveraging multiple public cloud providers (multi-cloud). However, a significant number of workloads still remain on legacy systems, indicating that there’s more work to be done to migrate critical applications and fully unlock the potential of the cloud.

Unlock the full potential of your cloud investments. Continue reading to explore how leading companies are achieving transformative outcomes and download our comprehensive report to maximize your cloud strategy.

Related article: Optimizing Business Operations: The Role of Hybrid Cloud in Marketing

The Table of Contents of “The race to cloud: Reaching the inflection point to long-sought value” Report:

• A critical juncture in the cloud journey
• An unprecedented commitment to cloud
• Full value on the horizon
• Embracing the Cloud Continuum
• Navigating a collection of stubborn barriers
• Looking Ahead: Aspirations for business reinvention
• Cracking the value code
• Conclusion
• References

Number of Pages:

• 30 pages

Pricing: 

• Free