Cloud computing: Swiss companies not yet at the finish line

The company Digital Realty operates several data centers worldwide and regularly conducts studies on cloud trends. The third edition has just been published. Arne Benox, Sales & Business Development Manager at Digital Realty Switzerland, talks below about what he has learned from the study about the strategies of Swiss companies, what the next steps in their journey to the clouds might look like - and what he advises companies that may not yet be as far along as their competitors.

Have Swiss companies reached the goal of their multi-cloud plans?

Not for a long time yet. The concept of multi-cloud runs through all the needs and strategies of companies. Over the last few years, we have observed a high level of dynamism. To the degree that the technology of a dedicated cloud is becoming more accessible, the strategies are also changing. The interaction between the clouds is also improving. I see this as a development in line with needs, and I am sure that this will continue. I expect that in the next few years there will be a big trend towards connecting the clouds with each other even more. This stems from facts such as the fact that the number of companies relying on up to ten cloud providers for SaaS has increased significantly over the years: from 15.8 percent in 2018 to 45.3 percent in 2020 and then to 52.7 percent in 2023. 

As the needs of businesses change, the topic will continue to evolve. In the end, just as the study predicts, there will not be a single cloud or an exclusively private cloud. Enterprises will combine different clouds to do their different jobs.

The study relates exclusively to Swiss companies. Digital Realty is a global provider. Do the results in Switzerland match the experience in other countries? If not, what makes Switzerland different? 

There are generally differences in development over time. Some countries, such as Switzerland, are faster than others in global terms, including Germany and Austria, ahead of which Switzerland has a lead of one to two years. This also depends on the level of digitization in the individual countries. How good is the available connectivity? What bandwidths are available via which technologies? The keys to all cloud technologies are available connectivity and security. In countries where conditions are similar to Switzerland, we see similar trends. In regions where this is not the case, where other data protection laws play a role, or where bandwidth is not available, we observe that they are catching up and may even develop a bit faster in the process, as they can skip some steps we had to take.

What do you think are the reasons that on-premises cloud service providers perform so well compared to hyperscalers?
 
I would phrase the question differently, because local providers, integrators or software developers, serve completely different needs, they can respond much better to individual requirements. They can offer tailored solutions or penetrate niche markets that are not interesting for hyperscalers because of lower scalability. Many local providers are developing their own cloud services and we see this being accepted by customers. For example, there are many private banks in Switzerland that differentiate themselves differently to their customers than global banks. This results in special requirements that are very well covered by small providers that are native to the same market as their customers.

Against this background, what about the prospect of future growth of companies, perhaps also across national borders? 

Many companies grow under their own steam up to a certain point, and then continue to grow through mergers and acquisitions. At that point, very different cloud strategies, application landscapes and data sources usually come together. This is where our ServiceFabric solution comes into play. It allows companies to quickly connect disparate data, applications and cloud services across multiple locations, including colocation data centers and even data centers from providers other than Digital Realty, currently over 700. This scenario is typical of the future of the cloud. It's not just about making certain services like Microsoft 365 available for office communications, but the various cloud applications that our Study in detail, to network with each other, to bring together information in order to make smart decisions based on the data.

What conclusion would you like to draw from the study for IT managers in Swiss companies? 

Multi-cloud is a reality and the barriers to entering a colocation data center with solutions for public clouds, private clouds and multi-clouds are getting lower. It no longer takes much courage to get involved, as factors such as data protection laws are being implemented with increasing sophistication. This ensures that data is well protected within the data center. What's more, you don't have to worry about connectivity in our data centers, and we also cover issues such as environmental aspects and certification. In times when it is becoming more and more difficult for companies to meet the increasing requirements for the operation of their IT on their own, the step to an external data center makes economic sense - and as our study shows, an increasing number of Swiss companies are taking this step. 

Source and further information: Interxion