The results of Equinix’s latest survey reveal that more than seven in 10 (71%) organisations are likely to move more of their business functions to the cloud in the coming years. But despite more business moving to the cloud, 70% of these same respondents still perceive there to be cybersecurity risks around cloud adoption.

Large public data breaches have caused uncertainty among companies, leading to 45% of respondents focusing on improving their organisation’s cybersecurity as their biggest IT priority. Cloud and cybersecurity considerations together are top of mind for IT executives across the region.

For nearly half (48%) of the 1,200 senior IT professionals from across EMEA surveyed, the adoption of cloud-based services represented one of the top two factors that will impact their business in the future — second only to cybersecurity risks and breaches (53%). The results also showed that companies across EMEA are twice as likely to connect with CSPs than any other product or service provider.

Comparatively in the UK, over two thirds of businesses (67%) believe that cybersecurity risks and breaches will be the top factor impacting their business in the future, a higher rate than for organisations across EMEA. More respondents (75%) also believe their organisation will move more to the cloud.

Nearly one third (31%) of IT professionals surveyed think cloud service providers are the type of business their organisation is most likely to connect with in the future. This figure is significantly greater than the next businesses organisations are most likely to connect with – network providers (9%) and financial institutions (9%). Despite Brexit, 64% of senior IT decision-makers in the UK also believe that due to the UK’s flourishing data centre industry, the UK is the best place in Europe to interconnect with partners, customers, supply chain and cloud service providers.

The study also finds that only 17% of organisations across EMEA are currently using multi-cloud architecture. This compares to 56% who currently use private cloud and 42% who use public cloud. Organisations should be looking to multiple cloud service providers when building out their digital infrastructure strategy to remain competitive and secure.

Last year, Equinix launched Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric (ECX Fabric) to support businesses that need access to multiple CSPs. The service offers customers private connections to global cloud service providers no matter their location. Earlier this year the company also launched the Equinix SmartKey service, a global key management and encryption Software as a Service (SaaS) offering that simplifies data protection across any cloud or destination.

Eric Schwartz, president EMEA, Equinix commented,“The results of this survey reveal the huge shift towards cloud as businesses across EMEA prepare to compete in the digital economy. Cybersecurity risks and breaches are of course a matter for close attention but must not prevent businesses from undergoing digital transformation. Hybrid and multi-cloud models are essential for today’s era of globalised competition.”