To compete in today’s game, organizations must have the right cloud computing strategy in place. Cloud adoption was already expanding for several years—and has been accelerated by the pandemic—but as a post-pandemic world begins to take shape, new trends in cloud migration and usage are coming into focus.

The Flexera 2022 State of the Cloud Report explores the thinking of 753 global cloud decision-makers and users from a survey conducted in late 2021. Respondents revealed their experiences and insights about the public, private and multi-cloud market. To remain competitive in this evolving digital world, organizations must make strategic decisions about their cloud migration, cloud architecture, usage of public clouds, effective tooling and cloud cost management.

Cloud costs continue to grow, and the amount of waste remains high. For the sixth year in a row, optimizing the existing use of cloud is the top initiative for all respondents, underscoring the need for FinOps teams or similar ways to improve cost savings initiatives.

Notably, major public cloud provider usage is shifting among enterprises. The gap between cloud providers has continued to decrease year over year, with Azure usage surpassing that of AWS in several instances for the first time in the eleven years of the report.

And while small to midsized businesses (SMBs) are still more likely to spend their cloud dollars on AWS rather than Azure, the report also revealed that the overall SMB spend has grown substantially. Fifty-three percent are now spending $1.2 million annually—up from 38 percent in 2021.

In a hybrid IT world, a siloed approach to IT management is obsolete. The consumption of cloud—whether public, private or a hybrid approach—continues to expand across all industry verticals and disrupt the ways in which IT provisions, manages and orchestrates resources. The question is no longer if but instead when for organizations that have not yet begun their cloud journey.

Download the report today for insights to guide your organization’s cloud computing strategy, digital business decision-making processes, cloud migration, vendor and technology selection, cost forecasting and investment strategies to support the upcoming stages of your cloud journey.