The rush to multi-cloud environments is continuing, with some enterprises using up to five different cloud service providers to help meet their needs, according to a new industry survey.

Not surprisingly, the study, released Tuesday, finds that Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure are the most popular choices for enterprises that are using multiple cloud providers.

The study, "2017 State of Enterprise Multi-Cloud," is based on a survey of 683 IT professionals in the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific. The report was conducted by IOD Cloud Technologies Research and Cloudify, a company that focuses on network functions virtualization (NFV), as well as management and orchestration of cloud applications for enterprises.

Figure 1: A multi-, multi-cloud world
(Source: Mampu via Pixabay)

Earlier this year, Cloudify was spun off from its parent company, GigaSpaces Technologies, into its own, standalone company. (See GigaSpaces Spins Off Cloudify as Standalone Company.)

The study finds that 50% of those surveyed are using at least two different cloud service providers, with 9% using up to five different providers. Earlier this year, Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat, detailed in its initial public offering (IPO) paperwork that is has committed $2 billion to Google Cloud Platform, plus an additional $1 billion to AWS. (See Snap Commits $1B to AWS.)

A few outlying companies are even using eight to nine different providers.

The September 12 study confirms that AWS and Azure remain the most popular choices for public clouds, which echoes various other industry studies that have concluded the same, noting that Amazon is far ahead of all its competitors. (See AWS, Despite Slowdown, Reigns Over Cloud Market – Report.)

While the most popular cloud combo is AWS and Azure, the study finds that the second most used combination is AWS and OpenStack, which is primarily used in private cloud deployments and has struggled in recent months, although the OpenStack Foundation is looking to change that perception. (See OpenStack 'Pike' Release Emphasizes Ease-of-Use.)

While AWS is more popular with smaller firms, OpenStack is the preferred cloud platform for larger enterprises, according to the study.

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In a statement, IOD Technologies Research CEO Ofir Nachmani noted:

The survey also finds that enterprises have multiple reason to move to the cloud, especially these multi-cloud deployments. The main reasons include:

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— Scott Ferguson, Editor, Enterprise Cloud News. Follow him on Twitter @sferguson_LR.