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Cloud spend trumps AI but data, security and cost a common headache
Nasuni-sponsored survey finds cloud projects higher on the to do list than AI, but data management, security and cost reduction are common themes in all areas of investment
Most organisations already use cloud storage, but cloud investment is a big part of many corporate investment plans – more so than artificial intelligence (AI), in fact.
Core among cloud investments planned are enhancements to cloud data management and security, as well as to mitigate cloud costs. But AI projects do dovetail with some of these concerns, with most AI projects aimed at improving data management and reducing cost. Also, a sizeable minority of organisations don’t have a clear use case for AI.
These are some of the key findings of a survey commissioned by cloud file storage provider Nasuni earlier in 2024. It asked 1,150 purchasing decision-makers in the US, UK, and DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) region in organisations with 500-plus employees about hybrid cloud, AI, cyber security, and file and unstructured data storage.
Data management an analytics top cloud initiatives
Most respondents (84%) said their company already uses the cloud, but that cloud data management and analytics are an area they plan to invest in over the next 18 months (54%). Also, investments in cloud security (45% of those asked) and cloud cost optimisation (36%) were listed as key priorities.
Among the benefits hoped for from cloud investments by survey respondents, the top answer was to improve data security and RPO/RTO times (59%), improved application performance (56%), improved scalability and flexibility (55%), cost savings (51%) and to eliminate data silos (33%).
When it came to how respondents expected cloud initiatives to support improvement for the business, the top answer was that moves towards the cloud would improve business efficiency (64%), improve data security and resilience (62%), and improve customer experience (54%).
AI expected to help data management and costs
Among investment priorities, AI came second to cloud, with 48% of those asked putting it down as a key initiative.
When it asked what outcomes they expected from AI the top answers were advanced data management (60%), cost reductions (58%), workflow automation (57%) and enhanced customer experience (52%).
Key roadblocks to deployment of AI included data privacy and security concerns (42%), lack of skills (35%), dependence on third party vendors (30%) and difficulty identifying use cases for AI (27%). Also, echoing concerns over file storage management and siloisation, the likelihood of data silos arising from AI initiatives was cited by 22%.
Most suffered cyber attacks but confident for the future
When the survey asked about the impact of cyber attacks on respondents’ organisations the largest proportion (27%) had not suffered an attack in the last year. A fifth (20%) said they had detected the attack easily and mitigated it and recovered from it.
Meanwhile, 17% said they detected the attack but struggled to recover and 20% recovered but the effects were costly in downtime, data loss and reputation. Just under a tenth (9%) had paid the ransom, and 8% paid it and were attacked again.
However, most are very confident (40%) that a multi-layered approach, good security hygiene and a well-trained team would deal with any future cyber attack, while 34% said they were “confident”. Only 1% declared themselves “not confident”.
Where does that confidence come from? Just under half (49%) said their data is backed up, immutable and easily recoverable, while 47% said they have detection tools to identify attacks, a dedicated security team (47%), a well-practiced plan (40%) and AI/ML cyber-defence tools (33%).
What are the top file storage choices?
The survey asked about the main storage and data management technologies deployed in respondents’ organisations. Top choice was Microsoft Sharepoint (63%), then SaaS-based content management 51%), level with cloud NAS (also 51%). Windows file shares and on-premise NAS garnered 46% and 31% respectively.
The biggest challenges cited by those questioned regarding management of file infrastructure were security (49%) and the ability to recover from cyber attack (39%). Meanwhile, data classification and compliance, and file synchronisation between departments were cited as a key challenge by 35% of those questioned. Running with that theme, managing a fragmented data environment was seen as an issue for 30% of respondents.
The survey asked those with no cloud plans why they didn’t want to move file data to the cloud. Top answer was security (45%), cost management (32%), skills (31%), complexity and integration (27%) and data migration concerns (26%).
Read more about cloud storage
- Global file systems: Hybrid cloud and follow-the-sun access. We look at global distributed file systems that put enterprise data under a single file access namespace so that enterprises and branch offices can get to data from anywhere.
- Five reasons why – and when – cloud storage is the answer. We look at when cloud storage can be the best choice, with considerations that include performance, scalability and agility, cost, management simplicity, and security and resilience.
