The State of the Cloud 2021: The Hybrid, Multicloud Forms the Foundation to Digital Organizations Updated Research Available
Highlights from the 2021 Frost & Sullivan Global Cloud Survey
15-Dec-2021
Global
Customer Research
K683-01-00-00-00
IT04439-GL-CR_26087
The cloud represents the most critical aspect of digital transformation, according to respondents to the 2021 Frost & Sullivan Global Cloud User survey. As such, companies continue to build out their hybrid, multicloud environments to support strategic business goals, such as agility and improved customer experience. In the tenth annual survey of IT decision-makers responsible for cloud implementations, respondents representing a range of industries, company sizes, and world regions share their perceptions, plans, and behaviors related to cloud infrastructure, choice of a public cloud provider, data growth, and managed services. Among interesting findings:
• Increasing digitalization is driving growth across all cloud and traditional IT models. Businesses deploying apps in edge or colocation facilities will double in the next two years.
• The increasing complexity and urgency associated with digital transformation is driving more businesses to engage with managed service providers. Top-used services relate to optimization of workloads and costs.
• Becoming more “data-centric” is a priority for 61% of respondents, who report average data growth of 44% per year.
The survey results offer enterprises and IT service providers a glimpse of the near-future of the cloud market.
Author: Lynda Stadtmueller
Key Findings
Research Objectives and Methodology
Respondent Profile
Business Priorities Reflect Shift from Survival to Growth
Organizations Perceive Cloud as an Essential Technology
Adoption Continues Up the Cloud Stack
All Infrastructure Options – Traditional and Cloud – are Growing
The Hybrid, Multicloud Supports Modern Application Deployment
Organizations See Benefits in Using Multiple Public Clouds
Why Organizations Choose to Deploy Apps in the Public Cloud
Why Organizations Choose to Deploy Apps on Premises
Repatriating Sub-optimized Applications
Businesses Rely on More Data, of More Types
As Data Volumes Grow, They Remain in Place
Third-Party Partners Support Enterprise Digitalization Strategies
Managed Service Providers Offer Ongoing Cloud Workload Optimization
Benefits of Engaging a Managed Cloud Services Provider
List of Exhibits
Legal Disclaimer
Speak directly with our analytics experts for tailored recommendations.
Recent related IT Services and Applications research
26 Oct 2026 | North America | Frost Radar
Frost Radar™: Data Center Colocation Services in North America, 2026
Data center colocation services have become a foundational component of enterprise digital infrastructure, enabling organizations to balance performance, security, scalability, and cost optimization across increasingly distributed IT environments. Colocation facilities serve as critical interconnect...
23 Oct 2026 | Global | Technology Research
Growth Opportunities in GPU-as-a-Service, Hyperscale & AI-Focused Digital Infrastructure, AI-ready Data Center, Prompt-based Builder, Docs-as-code, and Artificial Chip Intelligence
This edition of the IT, Computing and Communication Technology Opportunity Engine explores GPU-as-a-Service, Hyperscale & AI-Focused Digital Infrastructure, and AI-Ready Data Centers to scale AI compute capabilities. Prompt-Based Builders and Docs-as-Code accelerate software development, while Artif...
16 Oct 2026 | Global | Frost Radar
Frost Radar™: Satellite IoT, 2026
Direct-to-device (D2D) connectivity and 3GPP NTN standards are reshaping the satellite IoT market. Release 17 enabled satellite NB-IoT through standard cellular modules, SIMs, and devices. The shift to 5G New Radio NTN supports higher-throughput, delay-sensitive services, such as direct-to-smartphon...
15 Oct 2026 | Latin America | Frost Radar
Frost Radar™: Managed Cloud Service Providers in Latin America, 2026
Cloud has become an established component of enterprise technology strategy in Latin America, but adoption has not necessarily reduced complexity. Many organizations now operate fragmented environments: public cloud, private cloud, on-premises infrastructure, legacy applications, SaaS platforms, and...
13 Oct 2026 | Global | Strategic Imperatives
Top 10 Strategic Imperatives for Public Cloud Services, Global, 2026
The global public cloud services industry is shifting from an era focused primarily on cloud migration and cost optimization to one centered on control, trust, intelligence, and measurable business outcomes. Enterprises are no longer asking whether workloads belong in the cloud. Instead, they are de...
Purchase includes:
- Report download
- Growth Dialog™ with our experts
Growth Dialog™
A tailored session with you where we identify the:- Strategic Imperatives
- Growth Opportunities
- Best Practices
- Companies to Action
Impacting your company's future growth potential.