The report is spearheaded by thought-leadership innovators HotTopics.ht and sponsored by application security and cloud experts F5 Networks.
The report features 50 companies from a wide range of industries, each assessed for excellence in strategic cohesion, market impact, operational performance and overall value. It also includes detailed case studies of selected Cloud Climbers, as well as pertinent cloud trend analysis.
The retail sector secured the most top 50 slots (12%), followed by financial services (8%), automotive (6%), sport (6%) and transport/logistics (4%). Marquee names in the report include Spotify (for continually evolving and optimising its massive music streaming service), Mercedes F1 (cloud-fuelled performance analytics) and Airbus (cloud and machine learning to store and process several hundred terabytes of satellite imagery annually).
Europe’s leading public-private cloud partnership – the Helix Nebula Initiative – is another notable inclusion and indicative of the technology’s immense reach and influence. A unique partnership between IT providers and Europe’s top research centres (CERN, EMBL, ESA and PIC), the collective’s headline-grabbing work includes aiding the search for the Higgs Boson “God Particle”.
All organisations were subjected to a rigorous assessment process conducted by an eminent judging panel comprising David Linthincum (Cloud Technology Partners SVP and recently crowned world #1 cloud influencer), Mu Kenny Li (Cloud Spectator CEO), Rene Buest (Arago GMBH Directory of Technology) and Roy Illsley (Ovum principal analyst).
“I was highly impressed by the amount of innovation in EMEA. The region is no longer trailing the US, but is equal to, and in some cases, accelerating the use of cloud computing,” said Linthincum. “Cloud technology is disruptive to the market, and innovative companies are quickly learning that they can automate faster and change as business demands. It is encouraging that EMEA businesses are now leveraging cloud computing strategically and not just for tactical cost savings.”
The report comes at a time of significant cloud uptake. According to IDC, at least half of IT spending will be cloud-based by 2018, reaching 60% of all IT infrastructure, and 60–70% of all software, services, and technology spending by 2020. (1)
“As more enterprises begin to recognise the benefits of cloud computing, we are seeing a significant shift to multi-cloud and hybrid cloud strategies,” said Mu Kenny Li. “The Cloud Climbers Report clearly shows that EMEA is able and willing to take full advantage of those benefits. From industry leaders to growing startups, we believe that companies throughout the region will continue to adopt cloud in their effort to expand and innovate”.
View the top 50 cloud innovators here.
