A recent study commissioned by XO Communications (XO) reveals that, despite long-held concerns about security and performance, enterprises are pursuing aggressively a multicloud strategy. The study revealed that the number of enterprises that will connect their corporate networks to two or more cloud service providers will triple within the next two years.

XO commissioned IDC to perform the research in order to validate and quantify leading trends in hybrid cloud adoption. The research findings were recently published by IDC in a white paper titled “Why Are Enterprises Connecting to Multicloud Services?” The emergence of hybrid cloud architectures, in which businesses leverage both private and public cloud resources, are enabling IT managers to more efficiently support the increasing demand for enterprise cloud applications.

“As a market leader in IP and Ethernet networking and cloud connectivity, XO believes in the importance of helping customers stay at the forefront of emerging trends,” said Jake Heinz, senior vice president, marketing and product at XO Communications. “An expected increase in the percentage of enterprises planning to expand the use of a multicloud strategy from 29 to 86 percent over the next two years is a significant trend our customers need to understand.”

The research also revealed the importance of key cloud attributes when accessing multiple cloud service providers. On a scale of one to five (where one indicates an attribute is not important and five indicates it is extremely important), enterprises rated network reliability and availability at 4.41 and secure data transport at 4.31. IT managers also placed high importance on the performance management capabilities of the network provider they use to access cloud services.

“Enterprises that connect to cloud service providers through the public Internet face security and performance concerns inherent with that access option,” continued Heinz. “The secure and reliable XO network-enabled cloud offers companies the ability to connect cost-effectively to a wide variety of cloud services in an environment where they have end-to-end control and visibility.”

Survey respondents further indicated that they expect to increase use from an average of two cloud service providers to four within the next two years.

“IDC strongly recommends that enterprises in all key vertical segments and businesses with more than 500 employees develop an integrated IT and network strategy plan,” said Nav Chander, research manager, enterprise telecom at IDC. “The XO Communications Network Enabled Cloud initiative is an excellent example of a new multicloud offering that facilitates a hybrid cloud architecture which is the key element of its integrated strategic plan.”