‘On-premise versus cloud’ remains the heavyweight division of digital infrastructure rivalries. And depending on where you look, both sides claim victory. Cloud is often perceived as a runaway success. As part of report into the domestic cloud services market, UK regulator Ofcom noted that the UK cloud infrastructure market is growing, with overall revenues increasing at a rate of 35% to 40% annually.1.

The recent McKinsey report, the state of cloud computing in Europe has exposed not only low returns, but also serious challenges for businesses embracing cloud as the basis of digital transformation. The first concern is that not only is the value of cloud ‘in isolated pockets and at subscale ’, but also that it is limited to the IT department. Whilst 75 percent of those surveyed reported either technology cost savings or productivity increases, only one-third have seen such savings beyond IT.