Despite the core benefit of cloud computing being the greater flexibility it delivers businesses, many cloud vendors have become largely inflexible in their attempts to deliver on this promise. As a result, businesses are becoming increasingly frustrated with cloud providers’ inability to cover ‘all the bases’ and rise in niche specialisation, creating more barriers to enterprise cloud migration at a time when market maturity should be prompting greater uptake of cloud products and services.

Shortcomings in the cloud
According to Canopy and Ovum’s recent ‘Cloud Altitude’ report, exploring the state of the global enterprise cloud market, a substantial number of customers fear being locked into ‘long-term’ (14.6%), ‘non-competitive’ (23.3%) or insufficiently ‘flexible’ (23%) arrangements with their vendor. By combining these figures, all of which are shades of the same issue, the report reveals nearly two-thirds (61%) of senior client-side IT decision makers feel vendor cloud offerings are too restrictive.

Another major area of discontent sits within the choice between public or private cloud. When the cloud market first emerged, it was often a case of either/or for businesses. Increasingly, though, businesses need a combination of both – a hybrid cloud model. However, the Cloud Altitude figures suggest private cloud is seen as a challenge by companies, on the grounds of complexity. A sizeable majority of 60% cited a need for greater mastery of cloud disciplines as an issue involved with opting for a private cloud solution. In an established cloud sector, a lack of clarity and consultancy should no longer be an issue.

When you consider further shortcomings in the industry, such as the increasing demand for broader hosting options (including European-based data centres to avoid US laws such as the Patriot Act), it becomes clear businesses are not fully satisfied with the level of flexibility and choice about where their data is stored.

Evolve or die
The next few years will be a crucial period for cloud providers looking to win the long-term trust of businesses as the digital transformation process continues apace. Those that succeed are likely to secure a place at the forefront of the cloud market. Here’s how:

1) Customer-centric – Businesses want a vendor that responds to customer sentiment and ensures its offerings are able to support the ‘taming of the digital dragon’ – where their business models are shifted to a new operational structure based on digital principles, impacting strategy, leadership, structure, talent and financing.

2) Flexibility – The Cloud Altitude report results show flexibility is clearly integral to this. Cloud providers should consider implementing the following initiatives or practices to improve flexibility and ensure the key cloud criteria of latency, availability, access to data and cost-efficiency are met successfully – helping transform organisations on their journey to becoming digital businesses:

3) Take a Multi-vendor approach – allow clients to select products or services from a variety of vendors, rather than solely from the provider managing the migration. While this might seem a risky approach, customers are likely to opt for the solutions of their primary vendor contact, while the chance to purchase add-on services from elsewhere (e.g. from a third party security specialist) will only improve the client-vendor relationship in the long-term.

4) Create economies of scale – it is crucial to allow businesses to up and down scale their solution, as and when demand dictates. Such is the speed of business transformation and growth, this adaptability from cloud providers is needed to continually align cost with value generation.

5) Provide Consultancy-as-a-service – advice and information should be more readily available for business decision makers, including advice on where types of data should be hosted; whether that’s as part of private, public or hybrid deployment models. Without adequate consultancy and management there is a risk companies will opt to host critical applications publically, putting lines of business and data security at risk when a private home would be far more suitable and effective.

As the market matures, customers will become more knowledgeable and, in turn, demanding of the services on offer. Vendors need to be prepared to up their game and deliver on the aspects of clouds customers are really after. If not, as in most other industries, cloud players could become victims, rather than tamers, of the digital dragon.