NetApp: Increasing cloud adoption is a great channel opportunity

The coronavirus pandemic has prompted more extensive cloud adoption and increased the scope for the partners to advise the customers and add value.

NetApp Research has found that most users interviewed (86%) felt the cloud has become critical to their business, and most of them observed it as playing a significant role in their storage strategies. In addition, about 87% of the users observed that storing data in the cloud is more straightforward than other methods.

There were clear signs that even though several had adopted the cloud over the past 18 months, there was still plenty remaining. Almost half of the employees quizzed reported not utilizing all the cloud services at their disposal. While 74% did not think their business was expanding the prospects offered by going down the hosted route.

According to Matt Watts, the Chief Technology Evangelist at NetApp, “This research indicates that businesses observe the value in the cloud, but that they are only scratching the surface of how it can renovate their organization.”

That interprets into a vital role for the channel, with Denise Bryant, UKI channel director at NetApp, looking it as a scope for partners to carry on to make a difference.

Bryant said, “The UK is one of the global leaders with regards to cloud adoption and, as the urgent requirement for digital transformation paces this more, the scope for partners is massive.”

She proceeded, “The choices for customers can be awful, mostly if they do not have a clear understanding about the advantages of one public cloud provider over another, or whether hybrid cloud deployment will be more cost-effective.” Under such conditions, partners, and specifically their customer success managers, come into action.

She continued, “Customers require these reliable advisers to elaborate strategies on expanding the opportunities that the cloud offers, and manage their data across different clouds ecosystem, to make it readily available wherever they need it at any point of time.”

NetApp’s research also elevated some concerns about “digital wastage” and pointed to the cloud to eradicate those levels to provide chances to reap money into more profitable areas for the customers.

NetApp observed that the cloud could decrease digital wastage by up to 60% and that 22% of employees felt they were paying too much for hosted services, highlighting the significance of getting the correct value for money.

Watts commented, “We want organizations to utilize the cloud in a truly sustainable manner, reducing the digital wastage caused by paying for services they do not use or are being unsuccessful to expand the potential.”

He concluded, “Businesses all over the UK must ensure that they are expanding the return on investment of their cloud services enabling an accelerated utilization of cloud-based technologies like SAAS, data analytics, and automation. In addition, such approach will take the data management off their hands, providing the time and the tools to utilize data more strategically.”