State of the Cloud, Europe, 2024

Despite Economic Headwinds, Firms Embrace Cloud and AI

European organizations continue to embrace cloud and AI technologies as a way to drive growth and operational efficiencies. Despite sluggish economic growth in the region that is curtailing some spending, organizations are steadily progressing on their digitalization journeys.

In the 13th annual survey of IT decision-makers responsible for cloud implementations, respondents representing a range of industries, company sizes, and regions of the world share their perceptions, plans, and behaviors related to cloud and IT infrastructure, AI, and managed services. Key findings include:

Use of hybrid cloud is expected to double by 2026. 66% of European firms agree that a hybrid cloud is necessary for a successful business. - European firms continue to migrate legacy workloads to the cloud, although at a slower pace than their colleagues in other world regions. - Speed to deploy apps, ease of access for remote workers, and high levels of security top the list of reasons for deploying apps in the public cloud - European firms are slightly more mature in AI adoption than counterparts in other regions. 32% of European respondents say they have implemented AI across multiple functions (compared with 24% globally).

Sustainability remains a top priority for European firms, even as interest lags in other parts of the world. Nonetheless, high costs and lack of in-house experience hinder initiatives.

Perhaps as a response to tighter budgets, European respondents are less likely to engage a third-party managed or professional services firm for assistance with their digital initiatives.