Most companies are in the midst of budgeting season right now. With the chaos caused by the events in 2020, technology leaders are all busy working out what to do, when to do it and how to pay for their information technology budgets in 2021.
Nobody likes the term ‘budget-slashing’, but cost-cutting initiatives are now a reality for most businesses, following the tumultuous events of the past year.
Given those precursors, there are still financial realities that must be addressed in a world gone astray from the ‘norm’. Not all companies survived the economic shutdown and even those that did survive probably don’t look the same.
IT budgets - cost-cutting targets
Information technology (IT) budgets are classically favoured cost-cutting targets
Information technology (IT) budgets are classically favoured cost-cutting targets – it’s tempting to grab the red pen and figure out what IT projects to delay, who gets to stay, and how much longer it is possible to squeeze out of hardware, contracts, software, and services.
However, the technology industry is always striving to do more things better with less. There are always costs to control, new regulations, and plans to adhere to, and cyber security risks to manage. Looking ahead to 2021, this is just another year for the Cloud and further embracing the Cloud could be the ticket to IT budget success.
Cloud accelerating IT transformation
Cloud technologies are suddenly the foundation for nearly every facet of the American economy. The Cloud is everywhere, from television entertainment platforms to mobile phone applications and e-commerce delivery services.
Businesses now rely on cloud computing, hybrid, and multi-cloud solutions, in order to address essential needs, including security, resiliency, flexibility, and costs. The simplicity and instant availability of cloud technologies provide a significant advantage for businesses that urgently need solutions. In other words, the Cloud enables companies to have what they need, when they need it – all at an affordable cost.
Multi-cloud is survival tech
Financial survival mode is one budgetary modality that many businesses will likely face in 2021. In addition to decisions that have to be made under pressure, there are countless threats, risks, and objectives to balance.
New hybrid and multi-cloud solutions can help put survival mode conditions under control quickly and within a budget for many companies, especially when there is a tangible business outcome at stake.
Public and private cloud use
For businesses facing budget cuts, it is time to embrace a secure multi-cloud focused future
According to Right Scale’s Annual State of the Cloud Report for 2019, 91% of businesses used public cloud and 72% used a private one. Most enterprises actually utilise both options – with 69% of them opting for a hybrid cloud solution.
For businesses facing budget cuts, it is time to embrace a secure multi-cloud focused future. The global public cloud service market is projected to reach US$ 266 billion in 2020 (Gartner), which spells out a projected growth of 17.3% since 2018.
Managing computing costs with hybrid solutions
More than US$ 1.3 trillion in IT spending will be affected by the shift to the Cloud by 2022. Organisations that manage computing costs with hybrid solutions will gain visibility over all of their computing assets, creating a more secure cloud toolbox and secure business future. A hybrid approach provides a variety of benefits, such as:
- Allowing organisations to right-size their IT environment to minimise waste and overhead costs, by creating a custom blend of cloud solutions and dedicated infrastructure.
- Providing a better solution to support legacy applications on dedicated systems, while still being able to take advantage of advanced IT functionality and cloud services, like Machine Learning.
- Granting a more gradual upgrade path to migrate applications ready to operate in the Cloud, while maintaining hardware for more complex or hard-to-rebuild legacy components, instead of the ‘lift-and-shift’ method.
A new year, a new gear
Companies have a duty to create operational and transformational impact for their business, employees, and clients – even when budgets are tough and slim. There has never been a greater opportunity for businesses to recognise their costly pain points and develop a secure cloud-centric solution, in order to meet their needs.
Budget issues don’t have to inhibit tech evolution - they can accelerate business outcomes and mark the starting point for the tech revolution.
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