Customer interest in VMware Cloud on AWS is accelerating thanks to multiple factors -- including the coronavirus pandemic, new research survey data from Faction reveals.
To put the findings in context, it's important to note that Faction is an MSP that offers VMware Cloud on AWS services. Also, key Faction investors include Dell Technologies Capital -- the venture capital arm of VMware parent Dell.
The Faction 2020 VMware Cloud on AWS Market Survey questioned 1,054 IT and business professionals across a broad cross-section of organizations about their adoption of VMware Cloud on AWS. The respondents included vice presidents, directors, managers, architects, DevOps, IT/Ops, Services, and QA professionals from varying sizes of organizations across many industries.
The research identified six major trends influencing increased interest in and adoption of VMware Cloud on AWS, including the impact of COVID-19, demand from off-premises private cloud users and increasing interest in VMware Tanzu.
Top 6 Trends Driving VMware Cloud on AWS Adoption
1. COVID-19 is accelerating cloud migration plans: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, more than half (51 percent) of all respondents are either accelerating their cloud adoption timeline or moving forward as planned; this number goes up to 59 percent among respondents considering VMware Cloud on AWS.
2. Interest in VMware Cloud on AWS continues to grow. Twenty-five percent of respondents plan to add or increase workloads on VMware Cloud on AWS in the next 12 months. The coming year will also see an increased rate of migration to VMware Cloud on AWS; 28 percent of those respondents planning to migrate to VMware Cloud on AWS plan to do so in the next 12 months, up from 23 percent in 2019.
3. COVID-19 is influencing the drivers and timelines for VMWare Cloud on AWS plans: Among the respondents who are considering VMware Cloud on AWS and who have accelerated cloud adoption timelines in response to COVID-19, 42 percent anticipate making the transition to VMware Cloud on AWS within the next 12 months. Of these, the top five drivers of making this transition are: scalability and cost savings (each cited by 52 percent) and strategic IT initiatives (51 percent), followed by end-of-life hardware (33 percent) and closing a data center (16 percent).
4. Interest in VMware Cloud on AWS spans industries and use cases: The top four industries considering VMware Cloud on AWS are tech services, financial services, healthcare and government. Top use cases currently running VMware Cloud on AWS are data center extension (26 percent), AWS integrated applications (22 percent), and cloud migration (18 percent); among those considering VMware Cloud on AWS, top use cases are data center extension (25 percent), disaster recovery (23 percent), and test & development (17 percent).
5. Off-premises private cloud users will be a major source of growth for VMware Cloud on AWS, as 62 percent of respondents who have workloads in the cloud are considering VMware Cloud on AWS, or are considering but did not yet deploy.
6. The research revealed a small but rapidly growing interest in VMware's Tanzu. Though VMware Tanzu is currently being used by just 1 percent of all respondents and 2 percent of enterprises, that number is set to grow significantly within the next two years. According to the research, an additional 18 percent of respondents and 21 percent of enterprises plan to adopt it.
Additional insights from Joe Panettieri.
