Jump to Content
Google Cloud

Turns out, security drives cloud adoption — not the other way around

October 20, 2017
Rob Sadowski

Trust & Security Lead, Google Cloud

Download the global report conducted on behalf of Google Cloud in association with MIT SMR Custom Studio.

The elastic, on-demand nature of the cloud gives developers and IT teams flexible ways to consume computing resources. For enterprises well into their cloud journey, it should be no surprise that a MIT Sloan Management Review survey of more than 500 IT and business executives cited the “increased need for agility and speed” as the primary driver of increased cloud usage.

What may be unexpected however is that this same pool of respondents cited their “increased confidence in cloud security” as a nearly equal driver of increased cloud usage. In fact, agility and security together were cited as the top dual reasons for expanding their cloud usage. Because security concerns have traditionally topped the list of inhibitors to cloud adoption, these survey results are noteworthy to the extent that they signal a broader shift in trust. IT leaders polled in this survey recognize that aspects of public cloud can actually enhance security — a theme that our teams at Google Cloud see with increasing frequency as we consult with business and IT leaders.

Three out of four business and IT leaders polled in the MIT survey indicated that they’ve become more confident in cloud security over the past two years. This coincides with a boost in the proportion of enterprise workloads they’re running in the public cloud: 24% of workloads in the two years prior to the survey, with an anticipated 65% of workloads running in the cloud two years from now. As indicated, agility (45%) and security (44%) were cited as the top reasons behind this expansion — with cost savings (34%) a trailing third.

This report looks at security implications encountered by enterprises as they move more of their workloads to the cloud. You can download the report to learn more about:

  1. What are the top enterprise workloads leaders indicate they currently have deployed to the cloud? What’s on the horizon to be deployed? 
  2. What data types do leaders indicate they’re most likely to host in the cloud? 
  3. Does this differ for industries where data is heavily regulated? Does firsthand experience or cloud maturity affect perceptions about whether the cloud is secure? Are the threats real or perceived? 
  4. What levels of skepticism exist around security — grouped by job function, responsibility and firm size?
  5. What is actually behind the jump in confidence around cloud security? How are these organizations actually going about assessing security? 
  6. What do leaders indicate are the top security requirements for their organizations?
Google Cloud has invested deeply in security, from purpose-built hardware in its data centers, physical security and our encryption practices, to Google’s own global network. As organizations across every industry accelerate their adoption of public cloud and treat it as a major pillar of their IT strategy, Google Cloud is an excellent choice to help IT leaders implement advanced security practices for their organizations. Reach out to us to talk security or to share with us the challenges you’re facing with sensitive or mission-critical workloads. To learn more about how enterprises are moving to the cloud to increase security, flexibility and access to AI, read the global report.

Posted in