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Local firms are leaning on partners to accelerate cloud projects as hyperscaler investment brings a new scale of cloud adoption across the Australia and New Zealand (A/NZ) region.
In its The State of Cloud in Australia and New Zealand 2023 report, Forrester claimed cloud markets in the region are developing but are defined by a lack of well-distributed data centres and “regulatory experimentation”.
The report said enterprises are seeking to optimise cloud investments as cloud-native becomes the “new normal”.
Firms are increasingly leaning on partners to fill skill gaps, speed delivery and increase training on agile methodologies or cloud-native services as well as ongoing management of cloud platforms.
The report specifically points to The Instillery’s project with Watercare to migrate its digital services to Azure while helping it adopt software-as-a-service (SaaS)-based collaboration tools during the pandemic to enable remote work as an example of local partner enablement.
Consegna’s work with Wellington City Council to migrate core IT systems to Amazon Web Services (AWS) for greater scalability and infrastructure flexibility also garnered a mention.
Revisiting and refreshing cloud strategies as the economy tightens across the region is top of mind for organisations across all industries.
With the announcements of new hyperscaler data centres in the region, the next few years will be a time of continued evolution, the report said.
For New Zealand specifically, Forrester expects the cloud adoption pattern to continue to “mimic” that of Australia, although remaining lower overall.
This is due to a history of more restrictive regulations, which it said has now eased, and fewer cloud data centres.
AWS’ announcement of its $7.5 billion investment for a cloud region in Auckland back in 2021, alongside similar commitments from Microsoft, could indicate an opportunity for transformation as firms move their workloads from Australia to New Zealand.
On the other hand, this could simply be a “lift-and-shift”, the report stated, but the local presence of AWS and Azure may push Google, IBM or Oracle to provide local options in the future.
Across both A/NZ, the report found public cloud continues to support innovation objectives, with early public cloud usage focused on processing intensive use cases not possible in on-premises data centres.
This includes DNA sequencing, mapping for protection of the region’s unique flora and fauna and scaling for surges in demand for products and services.
Cloud-native at the edge is “all the rage”, the report continued, but edge is particularly important for industries such as healthcare, retail, travel and agriculture. Tech-forward citizens and global business expectations are pushing A/NZ organisations to deliver the best customer experiences possible, powered by edge solutions.
The report added the geography in the region and often poor connectivity makes the evolution of cloud-native technologies at the edge "increasingly appealing".
With the continued influx of hyperscaler investment bringing a new scale of cloud adoption across the region, Forrester said organisations need to strategically evolve their cloud strategies within their own business context.
Specific recommendations include revitalising cloud strategy for optimisation and expansion and revisiting risk mitigation in the face of environmental uncertainties to prioritise resilience.
