Today, Deloitte released the findings of its "US Future of Cloud Survey Report: Closing the Cloud Strategy, Technology and Innovation Gap," which reflects the sentiments of 500 U.S.-based senior cloud decision makers regarding the impact of cloud maturity on business priorities and innovation. On average, there is a 14.5 percentage point innovation gap between information technology's established strategic priories for cloud and where and how much organizations actually are succeeding in innovating with these new technologies.

The survey classified participants into four organizational profiles (Leaders, Drivers, Moderates and Hopefuls) depending on how they ranked their strategic priorities and the extent to which they reported a high level of success at driving innovation across those priorities.

The reported value of the cloud widely varies across different cloud services. For example, Leaders gain more value than Hopefuls from the following cloud services:

10 times more value from blockchain
5 times more value from AR and VR
3.5 times more value from containers
2.9 times more value from cloud native
2.3 times more value from cyber security
1.7 times more value from AI and ML
"Purposeful investments in cloud yield impactful results. These include the acceleration of the product development lifecycle, improved margins and greater efficiency," said Chris Thomas, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP. "Interestingly, Leaders have invested purposefully — but not necessarily more — than Drivers, Moderates and Hopefuls. In today's market, purposeful investment includes acquisition and retention of software engineering talent to maximize the flexibility and upside of cloud strategies. This is relevant in the current market where efficient capital deployment with near-term return on investment is a priority."

Overall, 88% of the decision makers surveyed believe that the cloud is the "cornerstone of [their] digital strategy," and organizations that use cloud as a "force multiplier" are noticing significant value from their cloud investments. Cloud is also credited as a key factor in driving revenue and solidifying a strong marketplace position.

Similarly, most (89%) consider "increasing efficiency and agility" to be the top strategic priority for their organizations when using cloud, and survey respondents overwhelmingly agree cloud is adding value in this area, as well as many others. While Leaders (95%) are successfully innovating in this area, Hopefuls (80%) are softer in terms of innovation outcomes achieved. The same disconnect applies to building net new products or service revenue, with nearly all Leaders (97%) achieving innovation outcomes and Hopefuls trailing behind (61%) them.

Overall, cloud investments are set to increase by 6 to 19%, according to more than half of the cloud decision makers surveyed — and over a third of respondents plan to increase their spend by 20% or more.