As of late 2011, more than half the organizations we surveyed in Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) are either currently using or actively planning cloud initiatives — 52% in fact. This number has nearly tripled since 2009.

But adoption rates alone don’t tell the whole story. Vendor strategists should also be closely tracking how organizations evolve from ad hoc, disjointed cloud projects to well-defined, effectively managed cloud procurement. Our recent survey results indicate a surprising degree of maturity across the region — along with some clear areas for growth.

  

Highlights: 

  • Centralized IT procurement of cloud services varies widely across the region. Australia (82%) and India (83%) currently lead in driving centralized procurement and management of cloud services through IT. Both markets are well above the regional average of 74%. This is no surprise for Australia, which is the most mature market for cloud computing in the region. But the strong results for India are surprising, and indicate the strong potential for a sharp increase in demand for cloud services over the next six to 12 months as early projects begin delivering positive returns. Only 66% of respondents in China are currently centralizing cloud procurement and management — not unexpected given the relative lag in cloud adoption in China relative to other APEJ markets.
  • Organizations in China are least likely to have a formal cloud strategy in place. Fifty-six percent of respondents in China currently see unsanctioned buying by the business outside of IT. This is the highest rate in APEJ by far, where the average is 35% and there are lows of 23% in Australia and 25% in Singapore.
  • The growth in cloud pilot programs in the two largest high-growth markets in APEJ is a sign of progress. Sixty-three percent of respondents in India and 60% of respondents in China have formal and structured cloud pilot programs in place. This compares to a regional average of 52% and a low of only 35% in Australia.

Clients should note that the above data is part of a much broader report. Forrester interviewed 530 enterprises from six countries and territories in the Asia Pacific region, including Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, and Singapore, in its Forrsights Strategy Spotlight: Cloud In Asia Pacific Excluding Japan, Q3 2011. Respondents comprised 85% IT decision-makers and 15% business decision-makers.