The latest data from Enterprise Technology Research reveals a significant shift in cloud usage within the S&P 500, indicating a move toward a more balanced market between public and private clouds.

Notably, while public cloud usage is expected to rise to 55% by January 2026, this is a downward revision from forecasts made 10 months ago, suggesting a stabilization in the market and a focus on new workloads on existing cloud platforms rather than a migration from on-premises systems, according to theCUBE Research industry analyst Dave Vellante (pictured, right).

As the market nears an equilibrium point where workloads find their optimum placement, Dell Technologies Inc. is answering with centralized management, seamless data mobility and enhanced security, added Vellante’s fellow analyst Rob Strechay (left).

“I think that it’s really clear that … people are not just going to cloud-first, but they’re going cloud when right, or doing it right,” Strechay said. “And I think a big piece of that is, ‘Hey, we want to make sure that we put new workloads where they deserve to be.’ We always talk about [artificial intelligence] and bringing the AI to the data or you’re bringing data to the AI, and I think people are trying to balance that now as well.”

Following the recent “Elevate Your Multicloud Experience With Dell APEX Navigator” event, Vellante and Strechay discussed how APEX Navigator, coupled with a unified storage layer, aims to provide customers with a comprehensive solution that not only addresses current challenges, but also anticipates future trends. (* Disclosure below.)

Multicloud’s challenges and generative AI’s impact

While multicloud is the pervasive cloud consumption framework today, a major challenge for enterprises is maintaining cohesion between disparate endpoints across on-prem data centers, public cloud and colocated infrastructures.

The APEX Navigator control pane puts security, automation and effective management as critical components at the forefront, with a focus on data mobility as a key factor influencing decision-making.

“People are not using just one cloud, they never have been, but they’re also looking for a platform and operating system that brings them across all of those clouds, both on-prem, in a colo and out in those public clouds,” Strechay said. “They’re looking at it from a security perspective, they’re looking at it from an automation perspective and they’re looking at it from a management perspective as well.”

With the emergence of domain-specific AI and diverse options in cloud services, customers are expected to demand more flexibility in workload movement. Dell’s early study with Navigator shows a notable reduction in costs compared to native cloud storage, positioning it as a cost-effective solution for handling the massive data consumption of generative AI, Strechay added.

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the “Elevate Your Multicloud Experience With Dell APEX Navigator” event: 

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the “Elevate Your Multicloud Experience With Dell APEX Navigator” event. Neither Dell Technologies Inc., the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE