Cloud still a priority for big corporations, says report by TCS

Cloud remains a long-term investment priority for 70% of major corporations, despite current macro headwinds and the recent slowing of growth of global cloud providers, said a study by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) released Thursday.

The global survey of 972 senior executives reveals that innovation is a major driver of cloud investment although 36% of respondents said that they overinvested in cloud over the past three years. A fourth of the respondents say they have changed or are considering changing their cloud strategy due to insufficient ROI.

Around 75% of respondents invested in AI and machine learning capabilities over the past two years, while 78% plan to do so over the coming 12-24 months. Both technologies are highly dependent on access to large amounts of data and scalability through the cloud.


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“Cloud is a frequent source of short-term ROI anxieties, but growth and transformation is a long game. Reconciling these two realities is a challenge and a necessity, but fully achievable with the right strategy and planning,” said Krishnan Ramanujam, President, Enterprise Growth Group, TCS.

Industry clouds or ‘vertical clouds’ are rapidly emerging as a fast path to acquiring greater business expertise and capabilities, with an overwhelming majority of respondents surveyed (73%) reporting that they are already assessing, adopting, or using them in business today.

More than a third of respondents (37%) said they have made progress in their goals for cloud-enabled innovation in the form of new business models, underlining the growing power of cloud to drive new revenue.

In addition, the study also finds a clear majority of respondents—67%—are using cloud technologies to achieve sustainability goals. However, 43% report difficulty in understanding the carbon footprints of cloud service providers.