The fourth annual Wasabi Global Cloud Storage Index, conducted in partnership with Vanson Bourne, examines trends in infrastructure and storage spending across the UK, with a particular focus on budget allocations for AI projects and cloud storage challenges.
The study surveyed 1,700 IT decision-makers globally, including 200 from the UK, highlighting three main areas: AI-related cloud storage requirements, data security, and the financial implications of cloud services.
The report highlights the role of cloud object storage in enabling cost-effective AI deployment at scale. Despite widespread investment in AI, UK organisations report that cloud storage fees often contribute to overspending.
Infrastructure prioritisation: Only 3% of UK respondents plan to reduce infrastructure spending. Most intend to maintain current budgets (42%) or increase investment (56%) in AI infrastructure over the coming year.
UK firms allocate 62% of AI budgets to infrastructure, with 36% directed to AI-specific software and SaaS solutions, emphasising the importance of infrastructure in supporting AI implementation.
Despite these investments, only 25% of UK organisations report positive returns on AI projects, though nearly half expect improvements within the next year. Key challenges relate to data storage, including cost, access, and management, which are critical to the success of AI initiatives.
Hybrid storage adoption: To manage AI workloads effectively, 72% of UK respondents employ hybrid storage solutions that combine on-premises and cloud environments. Public cloud storage is particularly used for data retrieval, aggregation, and archival, indicating its strategic role in AI data pipelines.
Data security concerns: Confidence in cloud security remains mixed. Around 62% of UK organisations express concern that data could be compromised or altered in the event of a cyber-attack, highlighting the need for enhanced security measures from cloud providers.
Budget pressures: Cloud storage fees continue to affect financial planning. Nearly half (48%) of UK cloud storage budgets are spent on fees rather than capacity, a trend that has persisted over the four years of the Index.
Budget overruns are common, driven by increased storage demand and complex fee structures. Addressing these challenges will be essential to maintain financial alignment and cost-efficiency in cloud storage investments.
