Survey: Businesses Pursuing a Multi-Cloud Strategy

Today's cloud marketplace is getting crowded, which means enterprises can pick from a plethora of options to align their cloud strategy with their business goals and outcomes. More than two-thirds (68 percent) of respondents to a survey by RightScale, which provides cloud management tools, report that they are using a multi-cloud strategy. RightScale recently asked more than 600 companies how they approach cloud computing and what priorities they set for implementing their cloud strategies.

A Multi-Cloud Approach is Popular

In addition, the survey found that 53 percent of respondents are pursuing a hybrid strategy that includes a combination of public and private clouds.  Another 15 percent of respondents have a multi-cloud strategy that includes multiple public clouds, but no private clouds. Among the respondents that plan to use both public and private clouds, 55 percent prioritize their public and private cloud efforts equally, while 23 percent prioritize their private cloud initiatives and 22 percent prioritize their public cloud initiatives.  Also, 89 percent of the respondents report that public cloud will be included in their multi-cloud portfolio.

“Cloud infrastructure now dominates as the architecture for ‘the new IT’ – and companies big and small enjoy an unprecedented variety of options for deploying the best cloud solution to meet their business needs,” said Michael Crandell, CEO of RightScale.  “No one-size-fits-all approach will work for everyone, which is why it’s important to choose a platform that will allow you freedom of choice now and into the future as you decide where and how to leverage infrastructure-as-a-service cloud providers.”

Open Source Technologies Take the Lead for Private Cloud

Among the 64 percent of respondents who plan to include a private cloud option as part of their cloud portfolio, open source private cloud solutions are the leading solution, with 41 percent of those respondents planning to use only open source-based private cloud options (CloudStack, OpenStack or Eucalyptus), while another 29 percent plan to use a combination of open source and VMware options.  However, the survey found 30 percent of those respondents plan to use VMware-only based private cloud options.

RightScale polled 651 businesses of all sizes and from a variety of industries, between April and May, 2012. 

Founded in 2006, RightScale has had its tools used to launch millions of servers at enterprises including the Associated Press, CBS Interactive, Intercontinental Hotels Group, PBS and Zynga.