Hong Kong Is Too Preoccupied on Cloud Cost Savings

Cost trumps workload mobility and cloud security for Hong Kong companies.

It was one of the critical conclusions by Nutanix Global Enterprise Cloud Index. The study surveyed more than 2,300 global IT decision makers.

In the study, 24% of Hong Kong respondents saw total cost of ownership (TCO) as the main benefit of the public cloud. Performance (22%) came second with data security and compliance (14%) a distant third.

In comparison, data security and compliance came first for Singapore (20%) and Korea (25%) companies.

Cost determined the choice of infrastructure for workloads for Hong Kong companies (27%). Globally, it is only second to Japan (32%). Only 46% of Hong Kong companies chose workload mobility between cloud environments as essential. In Singapore and China, it was 73% and 62% respectively.

“A focus on the bottom line and cost cutting may deliver short-term efficiencies at the price of top-line growth,” said Edward Yeung, country manager for Nutanix in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

“All of which may undermine the innovation and productivity required to preserve its advantage in a hyper-connected world,” he added.

The focus on cost savings may also prevent companies from benefiting from initiatives like the Greater Bay Area. A survey release noted that companies need to focus on innovation to capitalize on the initiative, valued at a combined GDP of USD 1.5 trillion.

“Hong Kong was built on ingenuity, leadership and a long-term vision to succeed,” said Yeung.

“As the territory becomes increasingly threatened by new and traditional regional competitors, its ability to innovate at speed will become crucial in preserving its economic and technological leadership," he added.