Global research report reveals how IT professionals are overcoming evolving challenges

CAMPBELL, Calif., Feb. 20, 2020  —  

Highlights: 

• On average, organizations currently have 45% of IT infrastructure running in the public cloud, but that number is expected to increase to 76% in the next five years.
• 70% of respondents say security concerns restrict their organization’s adoption of public cloud.
• 75% of respondents have already been targeted by a cyber-attack.
• Only 23% of respondents have already deployed SD-WAN, but another 51% are either in the process of deploying or expect to deploy within the next 12 months.

Barracuda, a trusted partner and leading provider of cloud-enabled security solutions, today released key findings from a report titled Future Shock: The Cloud Is the New Network. Commissioned by Barracuda, the research surveyed global IT decision makers to capture their experiences with, and attitudes about, moving infrastructure to the public cloud, concerns restricting adoption, and the security and networking solutions being implemented to overcome them. 

Read the full report: https://www.barracuda.com/cloud-market     

The survey, conducted by independent market researcher Vanson Bourne, includes responses from 750 executives, individual contributors, and team managers with responsibility for or knowledge of their organization’s cloud infrastructure. They came from organizations of all sizes and across a broad range of sectors, in EMEA, APAC and the U.S.

Overall, the study indicates that while adoption rates for public cloud continue to grow, security is still the number one roadblock, which is understandable considering the volume and variety of threats organizations face today. Highlights from the report include: 

• Organizations are moving infrastructure to public cloud.
• On average, organizations currently have 45% of IT infrastructure running in the public cloud.
• Respondents expect to see an estimated 76% of IT infrastructure running in the public cloud in five years. 
• Security is the No. 1 concern restricting faster adoption of public cloud.
• 70% of respondents say security concerns restrict their organization’s adoption of public cloud.
• Security concerns include the security of public cloud infrastructure, the impact of cyber-attacks, and the security of applications deployed in public cloud.
• 75% of respondents have already been targeted by a cyber-attack.
• Integrations/network is the No. 2 concern with public cloud adoption.
• These concerns include integrating public cloud with legacy technologies, better integration with private cloud, and enhanced integration with on-premises infrastructure.  
• Secure software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) fully integrated into public cloud is the solution of choice.
• 23% of respondents have already deployed SD-WAN, with another 51% either in the process of deploying or expecting to deploy within the next 12 months.
• SD-WAN is being used by more than half of those who have added security to their public cloud.

As more IT infrastructure moves to public cloud, cloud providers will offer more native network capabilities, and public cloud will expand to include more network functionality. The vast majority of organizations need their security vendors to offer advanced security and cloud connectivity tightly integrated with the major cloud platforms.

Barracuda offers a wide range of solutions to help organizations embrace the public cloud securely. For more information, please visit: https://www.barracuda.com/programs/cloudready.