Most organizations see cloud as a “force multiplier,” driving amplified value,¹ according to our recent Deloitte US Future of Cloud Survey. But not all cloud services are created equal. If cloud decision-makers could better understand which cloud services drive the greatest value against specific priorities, could they make better value-based decisions when developing their cloud strategies?

To find out, we analyzed² a set of common cloud services against priority business outcomes and found four significant takeaways for cloud decision-makers.

1. To optimize or preserve and protect value, consider data analytics, cloud cyber, and cloud-native investments.

Three core cloud services where respondents are achieving measurable value are data analytics, cloud cyber, and containers and container orchestration. These three services are most aligned to value goals such as cost optimization, increasing efficiency and agility, and mitigating business and regulatory risk. Therefore, organizations that want to optimize or preserve and protect value would be best served to consider these capabilities as part of their strategy. Cloud native and container-based approaches can be added to enable greater success with value goals such as the desire to expand into new markets. Importantly, organizations seeing greater value from these services are not spending significantly more on the cloud. In fact, their annual cloud investment averages ~US$27 million—which is just ~US$2 million more annually than respondents overall^.3

2. To advance sustainability and environmental strategies, think about next-generation cloud technology services.

Respondents adopting cloud-enabled technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), blockchain, augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR), and quantum achieve significantly higher positive outcomes around sustainability and environmental issues. This high correlation could be from the fact that next-generation tech adopters tend to be futuristic and forward-looking and are thus more mindful of climate challenges and more willing to address them.

3. To better achieve innovation goals such as developing new ideas and building new product revenue streams, consider AI/ML, experiential tech (e.g., AR and VR), and quantum cloud services.

Those adopting next-generation cloud technologies also achieve significantly higher positive outcomes, especially when developing new ideas, building new products, and expanding to new markets. Organizations falling in this cluster also tend to have higher annual cloud investments at ~US$30 million when compared to overall respondents (~US$25 million). Therefore, organizations looking to create new value may need to consider larger cloud investments across a broader range of services to achieve this goal.

4. To advance an “all of the above” strategy, blockchain investments check (almost) all the boxes.

Investments in blockchain-enabled cloud services have the potential to contribute tremendous value across the spectrum. Organizations adopting blockchain can achieve significantly higher positive outcomes for almost every strategic priority versus organizations not using blockchain services. “Efficiency and agility” was the only measure in our study to which blockchain didn’t contribute greater value. This could be because the technology needs improvement in this area or that core cloud services are so ubiquitous with driving efficiency and agility that the bar has been set high for blockchain to compete.

Learn more about what US cloud decision-makers say about cloud strategy, technology, innovation, and value in our recent Deloitte US Future Of Cloud Survey Report.

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