Many cloud users aren't thinking about optimizing their spending because they are still experimenting with cloud, and enjoying the first flush of savings from moving off-prem.
Enterprise cloud spending is growing, but much of that money is wasted, according to a recent report from RightScale, which specializes in cloud management.
Some 66% of enterprises surveyed by RightScale say they will grow spending by 20% or more in 2018, according to its 2018 State of the Cloud Report. Some 20% plan to more than double public cloud spend this year. (See RightScale 2018 State of the Cloud Report Uncovers Cloud Adoption Trends.)
But a lot of that money is wasted. Enterprise respondents estimate they're wasting 30% of cloud spend. RightScale's cloud optimization tools put the waste even higher, at 35%, the company says.
For a selection of slides from the report, click the slideshow below:
Figure 1: 
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RightScale makes cloud optimization tools, so of course it has a vested interest in making financial waste in the cloud seem like a dire problem. For a reality check, I asked my colleague Roz Roseboro, Heavy Reading senior analyst, what she thinks of the finding. Roseboro was the one who brought the report to my attention.
"It doesn't surprise me," Roseboro says. Enterprises are still experimenting with cloud; cost optimization will come at a later phase of implementation. Moreover, enterprises enjoy a significant, big jump in savings from initial migration from legacy on-premises infrastructure to cloud, and they don't think about how much more savings they could be seeing.
"Just moving from on-prem to cloud gives enough of a cost savings that there might not be as much pressure to cut additional costs," she said.
She noted that managing costs becomes more important to intermediate and advanced cloud users, according to the RightScale report. Some 63% of intermediate cloud users and 69% of advanced cloud users list optimizing cloud costs as the top initiative, compared with 58% for users overall.
Other interesting findings from the report:
Cloud is virtually universal. Some 96% of respondents use the cloud, and 81% have a multicloud strategy. Organizations are using an average of nearly five clouds each.
Security is a challenge for 77% of respondents, with 29% seeing it as a significant challenge. Managing cloud spending is a challenge for 76% of respondents, and 21% see it is a significant challenge.
RightScale conducted the survey last month, polling 997 respondents in enterprises and small and medium-sized businesses.
For the full report see here and here for RightScale's press release: RightScale 2018 State of the Cloud Report Uncovers Cloud Adoption Trends
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