1. Benchmark Your Enterprise Cloud Adoption
Benchmarks: The Cloud Computing Playbook
by Sophia I. Vargas and Dave Bartoletti
January 3, 2017
For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals
forrester.com
Key Takeaways
The Cloud Services Market Will Grow Rapidly
Through 2020
Cloud is now a top enterprise strategic priority,
and more workloads are shifting to cloud
platforms every year. The expansion of the global
cloud market puts pressure on every enterprise to
reexamine its use of cloud relative to peers and
competitors.
Enterprises Are Expanding Their Adoption Of
Cloud Computing In All Its Forms
Software-as-a-service (SaaS) is the most widely
adopted cloud computing model, with the
majority of enterprises using at least one such
application. From 2014 to 2016, enterprises have
continued to grow their use of infrastructure-as-a-
service in all its forms: public, private, and hosted
private cloud environments.
Cloud Usage Monitoring, Standardization, And
Automation Are Maturing
Most organizations now track and monitor their
cloud usage and spending. Initiatives around
standardizing best practices, optimizing workload
configurations, and creating formal cloud policies
are increasing but still in development. Delivering
in-house services via a cloud model (self-service,
fully standardized, and automated) is also lagging.
Why Read This Report
Enterprise cloud computing adoption accelerated
in 2016 and will do so again in 2017. Are you
ahead of your competitors or lagging behind the
average enterprise? Infrastructure and operations
(I&O) leaders must answer this question to
chart their companies’ cloud futures. This
report gathers important adoption metrics for
public, private, and hybrid cloud and explores
enterprise cloud priorities and policies to help you
benchmark your progress against the broader
market. Use these benchmarks to inform your
cloud strategic plan.
This is an update of a previously published report;
Forrester reviews and revises it periodically
for continued relevance and accuracy. We’re
updating it now to include new data from
Forrester’s Business Technographics surveys.

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© 2017 Forrester Research, Inc. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. Forrester®
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Table Of Contents
Cloud Interest, Adoption, And Spending All
Soared In 2016
Inform Your Cloud Strategy With Industry
Adoption Benchmarks
Aggressive But Pragmatic Enterprise Cloud
Adoption Will Escalate More
Users, Apps, And Use Cases Are Expanding
Yet Still Plagued By Security Concerns
Cloud Management Capabilities Mature
Slowly As Cloud Adoption Increases
Recommendations
Prioritize Business Outcomes As You
Expand Your Cloud Portfolio
Supplemental Material
Notes & Resources
In researching this report, we analyzed
benchmarks, adoption trends, and priorities from
Forrester’s Business Technographics® surveys
from 2012 through 2016.
Related Research Documents
Adoption Profile: Private Cloud In North America,
Q1 2016
The Public Cloud Services Market Will Grow
Rapidly To $236 Billion In 2020
Take The Wheel: Build Your Cloud Computing
Strategic Plan Now
For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals
Benchmark Your Enterprise Cloud Adoption
Benchmarks: The Cloud Computing Playbook
by Sophia I. Vargas and Dave Bartoletti
with Glenn O’Donnell, Michael Caputo, William McKeon-White, and Diane Lynch
January 3, 2017

3. For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals
Benchmark Your Enterprise Cloud Adoption
January 3, 2017
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2
Benchmarks: The Cloud Computing Playbook
Cloud Interest, Adoption, And Spending All Soared In 2016
The cloud is no longer just a place to do some development and testing or a way to replace noncore
business functions with SaaS applications. Cloud platforms and applications now drive the full
spectrum of end-to-end enterprise business technology transformations in leading enterprises, from
the key systems powering the back office to mobile apps delivering new customer experiences.1
More
enterprises are using multiple cloud services each year, including SaaS business apps and cloud
platforms like infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS), both on-premises
and from public service providers. I&O professionals are finally realizing that they must shift their
emphasis to more of a strategic and governance role, adding increased momentum to cloud. We saw
widespread growth in enterprise cloud demand in 2016, driven by three key trends:
›› More enterprises are focusing on cloud computing as a top strategic priority. In 2012, 52%
of enterprise infrastructure decision-makers in North America and Europe said developing a
comprehensive cloud strategy was a high or critical priority; in 2016, this percentage climbed to
68%.2
Ad hoc development projects for new line-of-business capabilities led cloud adoption in
the past, but today, companies look to cloud to modernize even core business apps — across the
entire business technology portfolio.
›› More enterprise workloads are shifting into public cloud environments. Enterprises currently
spread infrastructure resources across multiple types of data center environments, including
owned, colocated, hosted, or outsourced facilities, and they run more infrastructure in the public
cloud. Enterprise infrastructure decision-makers report that by 2018, their firms expect to run 18%
of their total infrastructure in public cloud platforms.3
While static workloads and legacy systems
may achieve the highest cost efficiencies in owned or dedicated environments, elastic apps with
dynamic loads built to scale up and down are naturally benefiting from the pay-per-use economic
model in the public cloud.
›› More technology spending is shifting to public cloud platforms and apps. Forrester’s updated
public cloud market forecast now predicts a global market of $236 billion by 2020 — 23% higher
than our 2014 forecast of $191 billion.4
SaaS remains the largest portion of the public cloud market;
we expect global spending on SaaS to be $105 billion in 2017 and grow to $155 billion by 2020.
But public cloud platforms (IaaS and PaaS) will experience the fastest growth rate, fueled by the
global expansion and success of the leading megacloud vendors: Alibaba Cloud in China, Amazon
Web Services (AWS), Google, IBM, Microsoft, and Salesforce. Enterprise spending on public cloud
platforms will grow at 35% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), from $32 billion in 2017 to $64
billion in 2020.
Inform Your Cloud Strategy With Industry Adoption Benchmarks
Adoption benchmarks help you understand how many of your peers are using cloud services, but they
don’t tell you how broadly any one peer company is using cloud services, nor how much of existing
infrastructure was replaced by cloud services. Keep in mind that these industry benchmarks are based

4. For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals
Benchmark Your Enterprise Cloud Adoption
January 3, 2017
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Benchmarks: The Cloud Computing Playbook
on averages and not on best practices. While they inform you of the behaviors of your peers, they don’t
tell you what you should be doing — they tell what you should be thinking about. They’re designed to
trigger questions and areas of investigation that should, in turn, guide your cloud strategic planning.5
Aggressive But Pragmatic Enterprise Cloud Adoption Will Escalate More
Forrester’s Business Technographics data powers the benchmarks in this report, highlighting results
from our latest software, infrastructure, and developer surveys. In 2016, we analyzed responses from
technology decision-makers across industries, at companies with 1,000 or more employees in North
America and Western Europe (France, Germany, and the UK), to understand their priorities, policies,
and adoption rates across users and use cases. Our research found that:
›› Public cloud adoption has spiked since 2014 across industries and geographies. Thirty-three
percent of the enterprises we surveyed now rely on public cloud platforms, the fastest-growing
cloud deployment model (see Figure 1). Our data also shows that 48% of infrastructure decision-
makers expect to use public cloud platforms by the end of 2017.6
A dramatic expansion of the
services available in the major public clouds, a heightened focus by cloud platform vendors on
enterprise customers, and major improvements in performance and security have driven the growth
in public cloud adoption (up from 9% just four years ago).7
Nearly half of your peers will have
deployed public cloud platforms by the end of 2017.
›› Private and hosted private cloud platforms remain very popular with tech leaders. Private
and hosted private cloud platforms allow I&O pros to offer fast and on-demand access to
dedicated infrastructure for developers and business teams. They also offer a way for tech
managers to modernize and consolidate owned infrastructure to improve overall infrastructure
efficiency. Naturally then, our data shows that private cloud is the preferred starting point for many
enterprises: 34% of infrastructure decision-makers report using hosted private cloud today, and
39% report having an internal private cloud.8
So, while your peers are certainly growing their public
cloud use, private and hosted private clouds are alive and well and growing, too — and more of
them are true private clouds. Make sure private cloud is a key part of your plans to modernize on-
premises infrastructure.9
›› Hybrid, multicloud deployments are now the norm, not the future. It’s unlikely that any
one public or private cloud platform will meet all your needs, and our data confirms that most
enterprises already have a hybrid, multicloud strategy in place. Fifty-nine percent of North
American and European infrastructure decision-makers whose firms are planning to implement,
have implemented, or are expanding cloud tell us they have a hybrid cloud strategy today (see
Figure 2). Additionally, 58% of North American and European infrastructure decision-makers
whose firms use public cloud already use three or more public cloud platforms.10
Your peers use
multiple clouds to get the best possible performance from cloud services and to lower storage

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Benchmark Your Enterprise Cloud Adoption
January 3, 2017
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Benchmarks: The Cloud Computing Playbook
costs, increase resiliency, and offer just the right services to each group of users they support.
Increasingly, companies realize that the cost and agility benefits they enjoy from using multiple
clouds can outweigh the additional management complexity that multiple clouds create.11
FIGURE 1 Enterprise Public And Private Cloud Platform Adoption Gains Momentum
9%
11%
31%
15%
19%
28%
33%
34%
39%
Public cloud Hosted private cloud Internal private cloud
2012
2014
2016
Base: 542 to 1,109 North American and European infrastructure decision-makers (1,000+ employees)
Source: Forrester’s Global Business Technographics®
Infrastructure Survey, 2016; Forrester’s Business
Technographics Global Infrastructure Survey, 2014; and Forrester’s Forrsights Hardware Survey, Q3 2012
“What are your firm’s plans to adopt the following cloud platform deployment
models?”
(Respondents who selected “implementing/implemented” or “expanding/upgrading implementation”)

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January 3, 2017
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Benchmarks: The Cloud Computing Playbook
FIGURE 2 Sixty Percent Of Enterprises Already Rely On More Than Three Different Cloud Platforms
One platform:
11%
Two platforms:
18%
Three platforms:
11%
Four platforms:
12%
Five or more
platforms:
48%
“How many implementations/environments of unique vendors do you currently
have in place for public cloud?”
59% of infrastructure
decision-makers describe
their strategy as “hybrid.”*
Base: 361 North American and European enterprise infrastructure decision-makers whose firms have
implemented public cloud
*Base: 820 North American and European enterprise infrastructure decision-makers whose firms who are
implementing/have implemented/are expanding cloud
Source: Forrester’s Global Business Technographics®
Infrastructure Survey, 2016
Multiple cloud instances and hybrid identification2-1

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Benchmarks: The Cloud Computing Playbook
FIGURE 2 Sixty Percent Of Enterprises Already Rely On More Than Three Different Cloud Platforms (Cont.)
“Why do you use multiple cloud platforms?”
27%
27%
26%
25%
24%
To lower compute costs/lower cost
compute infrastructure
To take advantage of different service levels/
performances on different cloud platforms
To lower storage costs by
leveraging cloud storage platforms
For disaster recovery (DR), to use cloud as
a DR site and/or recovery option
Because different users require
different cloud services
Base: 480 North American and European enterprise infrastructure decision-makers whose firms are
planning to implement or have implemented hybrid cloud
Note: Not all responses are shown.
Source: Forrester’s Global Business Technographics®
Infrastructure Survey, 2016
Recognizing multiple cloud uses2-2
Users, Apps, And Use Cases Are Expanding Yet Still Plagued By Security Concerns
As cloud evolves from a point solution to strategic enabler, enterprise technology departments and
developers are widening their approach to cloud services. Businesses are not only aggressively
seeking SaaS alternatives but also considering cloud platforms for a wider range of both new and
existing services. Cloud platforms can simplify real-time engagement across employees, partners, and
customers; enable anything-as-a-service; and collect cross-platform traffic and user behavior that can
power analytics across a connected ecosystem.12
As the approach to cloud matures, we see that:
›› Cloud platform strategies focus on migration, cloud first, and resiliency. Infrastructure
decision-makers whose firms are using or planning to use cloud services claim that the most
important cloud objectives include migrating existing workloads to private cloud platforms, building
net new apps in cloud environments, and considering cloud first for all new workloads and license
renewals.13
While these objectives will dominate cloud strategies going forward, respondents
now cite backup and storage as the most popular services, with 41% of infrastructure business

8. For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals
Benchmark Your Enterprise Cloud Adoption
January 3, 2017
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Benchmarks: The Cloud Computing Playbook
decision-makers specifying that they already use backup-as-a-service.14
These usage patterns
align with the motivations of 64% of infrastructure decision-makers who are planning to implement
or have implemented public cloud and look to public cloud services to improve disaster recovery
and business continuity.15
These sentiments and imperatives confirm that cloud services are quickly
becoming the preferred platform for both new and legacy applications while immediately serving as
a capex-free data protection platform.
›› Enterprises adopt SaaS solutions to complement and replace on-premises apps. As of 2016,
43% of packaged applications were deployed in cloud environments — private IaaS, public IaaS,
or SaaS (see Figure 3). Over the next two years, enterprises expect to move roughly an additional
10% of applications into cloud environments. While SaaS usage initially focused on complementing
existing on premise applications, the next wave of adoption will rely on SaaS as a replacement
for on-premises systems.16
As with the drivers behind IaaS, infrastructure decision-makers are
motivated to adopt SaaS as a means to improve business agility, increase speed of implementation
and deployment, and free up supporting resources to focus on more important projects.17
›› Developers want more cloud services, whether from private or public platforms. Thirty-two
percent of enterprise developers in 2016 self-qualified as cloud developers, up from 23% in 2015.18
To serve those developers’ needs, 37% of infrastructure technology decision-makers whose firms
have implemented or are planning to implement private clouds report that building private clouds
prioritized fast developer access to resources as an attempt to reduce public cloud use.19
As a
result, 41% of cloud developers with access to internal private clouds chose to deploy the majority
of apps in these environments. However, 21% still deployed the majority of apps on public cloud
infrastructure.20
While private clouds continue to mature, most do not and will never provide the
breadth of development services and ecosystem partners available in hyperscale public clouds. To
satisfy both business requirements and developer needs, I&O professionals must be able to offer a
mix of private and public resources.21
›› While security is still the top concern, it’s also now a top driver for cloud adoption. For
both public and private clouds, security remains the top enterprise concern.22
However, 61% of
infrastructure decision-makers whose firms have implemented or are currently implementing public
cloud now claim that improved security and ability to meet compliance regulations are important
reasons to adopt cloud.23
Taken together, this data shows that enterprises recognize that cloud
can be more secure than their data center — if they use it properly. Thirty-two percent of I&O pros
believe that technology groups must manage cloud security policies to make cloud services easier
(and safer) to consume.24
Tech management leaders must take the lead on establishing strong
security and compliance policies for cloud use.25

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January 3, 2017
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Benchmarks: The Cloud Computing Playbook
FIGURE 3 Companies Continue To Shift Apps Into Cloud Environments
Private cloud
Public cloud platform
Software-as-a-service (SaaS)
Traditional hosting
Traditional on-premises
Base: 642 to 576 software decision-makers at North American and European enterprises (1,000+
employees)
Source: Forrester’s Business Technographics®
Global Software Survey, 2014, and Forrester’s Global
Business Technographics Software Survey, 2016
“What percentage of your firm’s packaged (vendor-built) application portfolio fits
the following deployment types?”
Two years ago Today In two years
46%
18%
15%
9%
11%
38%
18%
15%
12%
16%
31%
16%
16%
18%
19%
35% 43%
53%
Cloud Management Capabilities Mature Slowly As Cloud Adoption Increases
Most technology managers have stopped asking, “Why should we use cloud?” and are now asking
more-important questions, like “How will I manage a growing cloud services portfolio?” Cloud isn’t the
enemy of technology managers; it’s an essential component of their future technology service catalog.
You must therefore extend your existing technology management skills and tools — performance, cost,
and availability management — to support a range of cloud services, whether on-premises or off.26
Cloud management is still an emerging technology discipline; 41% of infrastructure decision-makers
manage cloud today using internal tools and expertise.27
We found that:
›› Technology groups turn to cloud cost-monitoring tools to help them spend wisely. While
business units do buy cloud on their own, the majority of enterprise cloud expenses are budgeted
within technology spending.28
Fifty-two percent of infrastructure decision-makers report a plan
to increase cloud spending in the next 12 months, and technology managers should deploy

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Benchmarks: The Cloud Computing Playbook
monitoring solutions to keep track of unpredictable expenses and identify unnecessary spending.29
In 2016, 60% of enterprise technology decision-makers actively monitored their cloud usage, and
50% actively monitored their cloud bill (see Figure 4).
›› Self-service portal use is growing, but help desk access is still common. One hallmark of a
mature private cloud strategy is providing self-service access to all enterprise-approved cloud
services. In 2016, 36% of enterprise tech managers whose firms prioritized servers and the data
center provided self-service access of private cloud resources to developers, up from 25% in 2013,
and another 18% are planning to implement it in 2017.30
This is progress, but for private clouds to
match public cloud self-service, there’s more work to do. Your service portal and catalog must be
your strategic entry points for customers to request cloud services on demand, and building them
should be at the top of your cloud priority list for 2017.31
›› Cloud standardization and automation capabilities are maturing slowly. Public cloud services
are successful because they’re highly standardized and automated, yet most traditional technology
management offerings and processes aren’t. Standardization limits the number of configurations
you support, and automation removes the manual and error-prone processes that limit your speed
and consistency. Enterprises are making some progress toward standardization of their cloud
services: 45% of infrastructure technology decision-makers have established cloud policies in place,
and 41% manage a standardized image library, up from 41% and 30% in 2013, respectively.32

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FIGURE 4 Enterprises Work To Develop Cloud Policies And Processes
Base: 470 North American and European enterprise infrastructure decision-makers whose firms have
implemented some type of cloud
(multiple responses accepted)
Source: Forrester’s Global Business Technographics®
Software Survey, 2016
“Which of the following statements describe your firm’s current use of cloud
computing platforms?”
Have a formal cloud policy and a published
list of approved cloud vendors
45%
Have an active knowledge base of
cloud best practices
47%
Provide single sign-on to cloud services
48%
Actively monitor our cloud bill 50%
Actively monitor our cloud use 60%
Take steps to optimize our workload
configurations to reduce our cloud spend
Have a formal cloud operations plan
Take steps to optimize our workload
configurations to achieve SLAs
Have our own image library for approved
cloud deployments
Cloud incentives (e.g., chargeback,
showback, forced expiration dates,
and/or user capacity limits)
42%
42%
41%
41%
37%
Recommendations
Prioritize Business Outcomes As You Expand Your Cloud Portfolio
While these industry benchmarks supply context and support for I&O’s cloud business case and
cloud strategic planning, they’re only a baseline. Supplement these benchmarks — which give you a
picture of where you stand relative to the broader market — with maturity exercises, software portfolio
analyses, security assessments, and skills development to help you safely and confidently expand your
use of all types of cloud services. To grow cloud use at your company, your business and development
peers need and want you to:

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Benchmarks: The Cloud Computing Playbook
›› Focus first on business goals and outcomes. In many companies, developers or business
leaders are the initial catalysts for bringing in cloud services. Therefore, I&O pros must start the
benchmarking discussion with topics that are important to those key stakeholders. What matters
is how each cloud service will deliver business speed, agility, flexibility, and autonomy in service to
your most important asset: your customers.33
›› Design performance metrics aligned to these business outcomes. Success with cloud
computing must be measured in business terms, which likely isn’t the natural leaning of your
technology management team. And it may prove difficult to map cloud deployments and protection
efforts against these values — let alone against traditional IT metrics. For detailed guidance on
developing cloud performance metrics, consult the performance management report of Forrester’s
cloud computing playbook.34
›› Evaluate your portfolio before starting any cloud development or migration effort. Not every
application is equally suited to running on public cloud platforms or being replaced with a SaaS
alternative. Use a portfolio evaluation method such as strategic rightsourcing to identify candidates
and match them to the various cloud service delivery models. For each app, look for a SaaS or
cloud business service to complement or replace it before looking to rehost it. For each data center
facility and custom development project, assess the maturity and suitability of cloud platforms to
complement or replace existing infrastructure.35
›› Reward your technology management team when they standardize and automate. To expand
your use of cloud services and improve your adoption rates relative to your competition, encourage
your technology management team to adopt new success metrics. Most technology management
organizations are still measured on availability and cost reduction — on keeping the lights on and
costs down. But cloud success is all about speed and consistency, getting to market faster, and
responding quickly to changing customer demands. Make sure you encourage your tech team to
standardize and automate, and reward those who succeed.

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Supplemental Material
Survey Methodology
Forrester’s Global Business Technographics Infrastructure Survey, 2016, was fielded in June and July
2016. This online survey included 3,503 respondents in Australia/New Zealand, Brazil, Canada, China,
France, Germany, India, the UK, and the US from companies with two or more employees. Forrester’s
Business Technographics ensures that the final survey population contains only those with significant
involvement in the planning, funding, and purchasing of business and technology products and
services. Research Now fielded this survey on behalf of Forrester. Survey respondent incentives include
points redeemable for gift certificates. Please note that the brand questions included in this survey
should not be used to measure market share. The purpose of Forrester’s Business Technographics
brand questions is to show usage of a brand by a specific target audience at one point in time.

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Benchmarks: The Cloud Computing Playbook
Forrester’s Global Business Technographics Software Survey, 2016, was fielded in August and
September 2016. This online survey included 3,582 respondents in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China,
France, Germany, India, New Zealand, the UK, and the US from companies with two or more
employees. Forrester’s Business Technographics ensures that the final survey population contains only
those with significant involvement in the planning, funding, and purchasing of business and technology
products and services. ResearchNow fielded this survey on behalf of Forrester. Survey respondent
incentives include points redeemable for gift certificates. Please note that the brand questions included
in this survey should not be used to measure market share. The purpose of Forrester’s Business
Technographics brand questions is to show usage of a brand by a specific target audience at one point
in time.
For Forrester’s Business Technographics Global Software Survey, 2014, Forrester conducted a mixed
methodology phone and online survey fielded in July, August, and September 2014 of 3,308 business
and technology decision-makers located in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India,
New Zealand, the UK, and the US from companies with two or more employees.
For Forrester’s Business Technographics Global Infrastructure Survey, 2014, Forrester conducted a
mixed methodology phone and online survey fielded in June and July 2014 of 3,190 business and
technology decision-makers located in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, New
Zealand, the UK, and the US from companies with two or more employees.
Forrester’s Forrsights Software Survey, Q4 2013, was fielded to 2,074 IT executives and technology
decision-makers located in Canada, France, Germany, the UK, and the US from SMB and enterprise
companies with two or more employees. This survey is part of Forrester’s Forrsights for Business
Technology and was fielded during October 2013 and November 2013. Research Now fielded this
survey online on behalf of Forrester. Survey respondent incentives include points redeemable for gift
certificates. We have provided exact sample sizes in this report on a question-by-question basis.
Forrester’s Forrsights Hardware Survey, Q3 2013, was fielded to 2,306 IT executives and technology
decision-makers located in Canada, France, Germany, the UK, and the US from SMB and enterprise
companies with two or more employees. This survey is part of Forrester’s Forrsights for Business
Technology and was fielded from June 2013 to August 2013. Research Now fielded this survey online
on behalf of Forrester. Survey respondent incentives include points redeemable for gift certificates. We
have provided exact sample sizes in this report on a question-by-question basis. Forrester’s Business
Technographics provides demand-side insight into the priorities, investments, and customer journeys
of business and technology decision-makers and the workforce across the globe. Forrester collects
data insights from qualified respondents in 10 countries spanning the Americas, Europe, and Asia.
Business Technographics uses only superior data sources and advanced data-cleaning techniques to
ensure the highest data quality.
Forrester’s Forrsights Hardware Survey, Q3 2012, was fielded to 2,330 IT executives and technology
decision-makers located in Canada, France, Germany, the UK, and the US from small and medium-
size business (SMB) and enterprise companies with two or more employees. This survey is part of

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Forrester’s Forrsights For Business Technology and was fielded from June 2012 to August 2012.
LinkedIn Research Network fielded this survey online on behalf of Forrester. Survey respondent
incentives include gift certificates and research reports. We have provided exact sample sizes in this
report on a question-by-question basis.
We have illustrated only a portion of the survey results in this document. To inquire about receiving full
data results for an additional fee, please contact data@forrester.com or your Forrester account manager.
Companies Interviewed For This Report
We would like to thank the individuals from the following companies who generously gave their time
during the research for this report.
AppDynamics
Cloudability
Cloudyn
New Relic
Endnotes
1
Source: Forrester’s Global Business Technographics Infrastructure Survey, 2016, and Forrester’s Business
Technographics Global Infrastructure Survey, 2014.
2
Source: Forrester’s Global Business Technographics Infrastructure Survey, 2016, and Forrester’s Forrsights Hardware
Survey, Q3 2012.
For additional context, the following report provides clarity and context on these various infrastructure sourcing
options, which extend beyond traditional in-house solutions to help I&O professionals rightsource infrastructure
and applications, balancing cost with performance and efficiency to deliver the best customer experience. See the
Forrester report “Embrace The Hybrid Technology Ecosystem For Service Design.”
3
Source: Forrester’s Global Business Technographics Infrastructure Survey, 2016.
“Public cloud services are the biggest disruption in the tech market in the past 15 years — and adoption is
accelerating. We project that revenue from public cloud platforms, business services, and applications (SaaS) will grow
at an overall CAGR of 22% between 2015 and 2020, reaching $236 billion, which is 23% higher than our previous
forecast. For more information concerning the public cloud market and its projected trajectory, see the Forrester report
“The Public Cloud Services Market Will Grow Rapidly To $236 Billion In 2020.”
4
For a comprehensive forecast of public cloud market spending through 2020, see the Forrester report “The Public
Cloud Services Market Will Grow Rapidly To $236 Billion In 2020.”
5
Benchmarks are only a starting point. Use them as one input to your comprehensive cloud strategic plan for 2017 and
beyond. To understand all the required elements of a successful cloud strategy, see the Forrester report “Take The
Wheel: Build Your Cloud Computing Strategic Plan Now.”
6
Source: Forrester’s Global Business Technographics Infrastructure Survey, 2016.
7
Public cloud platforms have become the foundation for developing and running both customer-facing and core
business apps. The market has matured very rapidly as two vendors — AWS and Microsoft — lead the pack. Over
the next two years, enterprise app migrations, new microservices-based app designs, and container technologies will
create further disruption and fuel innovation. To understand how public cloud platforms will evolve in 2017, see the
Forrester report “Vendor Landscape: Public Cloud Platforms Consolidate, But New Disruptions On The Way.”

16. For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals
Benchmark Your Enterprise Cloud Adoption
January 3, 2017
© 2017 Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized copying or distributing is a violation of copyright law.
Citations@forrester.com or +1 866-367-7378
15
Benchmarks: The Cloud Computing Playbook
8
Source: Forrester’s Global Business Technographics Infrastructure Survey, 2016.
9
Forrester offers in-depth analysis of private and hosted private cloud adoption rates and usage patterns in a series of
reports that we update annually. For more detail on how your peers are using private cloud platforms, see the Forrester
report “Adoption Profile: Private Cloud In North America, Q1 2016,” see the Forrester report “Adoption Profile: Private
Cloud In Europe, Q1 2016,” and see the Forrester report “Adoption Profile: Hosted Private Cloud, North America And
Europe, Q1 2016.”
10
Source: Forrester’s Global Business Technographics Infrastructure Survey, 2016.
11
Supporting multiple cloud platforms can indeed increase management complexity. Before enabling your developers
and business teams to consume services from multiple internal and external clouds, make sure you’ve determined the
costs and benefits for each and aligned your expected business outcomes to each supported type of cloud service,
from SaaS to cloud platforms. To understand what these costs and benefits are, see the Forrester report “Justify Your
Hybrid Cloud Future With A Solid Business Case.”
12
Cloud is evolving from an internal-facing point solution to an enabler of connected cloud economies. In this next
phase of cloud, leading CIOs will orchestrate cloud ecosystems — which connect employees, customers, partners,
and devices — to serve rising customer expectations. These cloud ecosystems have the potential to disrupt business
models and revolutionize the customer experience. See the Forrester report “Cloud Powers The New Connected
Economy.”
13
Source: Forrester’s Global Business Technographics Infrastructure Survey, 2016.
14
Source: Forrester’s Global Business Technographics Infrastructure Survey, 2016.
15
Source: Forrester’s Global Business Technographics Infrastructure Survey, 2016.
16
There are two key reasons for this: 1) The maturing landscape of SaaS products makes a replacement strategy
more viable than it once was and 2) the land-and-expand incremental nature of SaaS adoption has meant that some
companies have intentionally used “SaaS-as-complement” as a temporary strategy until their rollout is full enough
to retire the legacy apps. See the Forrester report “Application Adoption Trends 2016: SaaS Expands Across The
Enterprise And Across The Globe”.
17
Source: Forrester’s Global Business Technographics Software Survey, 2016; Forrester’s Forrsights Hardware Survey,
Q3 2013; and Forrester’s Business Technographics Global Infrastructure Survey, 2014.
18
Source: Forrester’s Global Business Technographics Developer Survey, 2016. Less than a quarter of all enterprise
developers are using cloud platforms today. This toolkit provides a snapshot view of the data from this compelling
survey and shows what distinguishes these developers from the pack. See the Forrester report “Who Are Enterprise
Cloud Developers?.”
19
Source: Forrester’s Global Business Technographics Infrastructure Survey, 2016.
20
Source: Forrester’s Global Business Technographics Developer Survey, 2016.
21
For common reasons that private clouds fail, see the Forrester report “Q&A: Understanding Private Clouds That
Failed.”
22
Source: Forrester’s Global Business Technographics Infrastructure Survey, 2016, and Forrester’s Business
Technographics Global Software Survey, 2014.
23
Source: Forrester’s Global Business Technographics Infrastructure Survey, 2016.
24
Source: Forrester’s Global Business Technographics Infrastructure Survey, 2016.
25
This report explains the process and technology challenges as well as best practices for implementing security to, in,
and from the cloud. See the Forrester report “Create Your Cloud Security Technology Strategy And Road Map.”

17. For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals
Benchmark Your Enterprise Cloud Adoption
January 3, 2017
© 2017 Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized copying or distributing is a violation of copyright law.
Citations@forrester.com or +1 866-367-7378
16
Benchmarks: The Cloud Computing Playbook
26
Your future technology infrastructure will include a hybrid mix of on-premises virtual infrastructure, public cloud
services, and private cloud services. What skills and tools do you need to manage this hybrid cloud? For guidance on
how the I&O role changes in a hybrid cloud world and which cloud management capabilities I&O must master to take
on the role of hybrid cloud manager, see the Forrester report “Cloud Management In A Hybrid Cloud World.”
27
Source: Forrester’s Global Business Technographics Infrastructure Survey, 2016.
28
Source: Forrester’s Global Business Technographics Infrastructure Survey, 2016.
29
Source: Forrester’s Global Business Technographics Infrastructure Survey, 2016.
30
Source: Forrester’s Global Business Technographics Infrastructure Survey, 2016, and Forrester’s Forrsights Hardware
Survey, Q3 2013.
31
The cloud service catalog is the heart of your enterprise cloud, not only a place to define, advertise, and price the
services you offer but also the vehicle to empower customers with self-service, single sign-on, and centralized
delivery. Service catalogs must engage the business consumer to decide what to deliver and when; they must be a
critical component of your cloud strategy.
32
Source: Forrester’s Global Business Technographics Infrastructure Survey, 2016, and Forrester’s Forrsights Hardware
Survey, Q3 2013.
33
Forrester offers its cloud computing playbook to infrastructure and operations (I&O) professionals who need to
harness cloud to drive business growth. The playbook structure delivers a step-by-step road map for building and
differentiating customer experiences with cloud. See the Forrester report “Cloud Services Jumpstart Your Pursuit Of
Customer Obsession.”
34
This report outlines the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) methodology and how I&O professionals can apply it to manage
their organization’s cloud computing performance. For more information on how to measure the performance of your
cloud initiative, see the Forrester report “Develop Cloud Metrics Using The Balanced Scorecard.”
35
Many customers not only take a cloud-first view of migration but also pursue a “public cloud or bust” strategy. Step
back and take a measured approach to cloud strategy, starting with a detailed portfolio evaluation — including
strategic rightsourcing — to identify the right providers and migration candidates. For guidance on running your own
portfolio evaluation, see the Forrester report “Portfolio Evaluation Is The Key To Migrating Applications To The Cloud.”

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