The Flexera 2024 State of the Cloud Report sheds light on cloud computing trends and the pressures facing IT professionals and the strategic initiatives they’re utilizing to remain competitive in today’s dynamic and evolving landscape.
Report highlights
Here’s a sample of key findings from this year’s report based on a survey of 753 cloud decision-makers and users from around the world.
Organizations embrace multi-cloud
Chart: Organizations embrace multi-cloud
N=753
Source: Flexera 2024 State of the Cloud Report (Figure 8)
What challenges do you face in migrating workloads to public cloud?
Chart: What challenges do you face in migrating workloads to public cloud?
All: N=753, Enterprise: N=621, SMB: N=132
Source: Flexera 2024 State of the Cloud Report (Figure 21)
Does your company have a FinOps team to advise, manage or execute cloud cost optimization strategies?
N=753
Source: Flexera 2024 State of the Cloud Report (Figure 26)
What public cloud providers does your organization use?
Chart: What public cloud providers does your organization use?
N=753
Source: Flexera 2024 State of the Cloud Report (Figure 38)
Use of generative AI (GenAI) public cloud services
Chart: Use of generative AI (GenAI) public cloud services
N=753
Source: Flexera 2024 State of the Cloud Report (Figure 50)
Cloud cost optimization and sustainability prioritization
Chart: Cloud cost optimization and sustainability prioritization
In the face of ongoing economic uncertainties, many organizations are investing in transformative initiatives such as generative AI (GenAI) and sustainability. At the same time, managing costs effectively remains a top priority—and trying to find a balance between the two is a formidable challenge. Despite this, cloud usage is on the rise, while wasted spend is decreasing. Hybrid cloud strategies are evolving, with a notable increase in the number of businesses adopting a more comprehensive view of cost management for hybrid deployments, including the licensing of software used in the cloud.
Cloud spending remains substantial, as nearly half of all workloads and data are now in the public cloud. For the second year in a row, managing cloud expenses has emerged as a more pressing challenge than security, highlighting an intensified focus on FinOps practices and tools for optimizing cloud costs and enhancing efficiency. This trend is consistent with the broader adoption of multi-cloud strategies, the increased use of cloud services, and the establishment of cloud centers of excellence (CCOEs) in more than half of the organizations surveyed, signifying a shift toward more centralized and strategic cloud management.