It’s no secret that many companies look to the cloud as a means to save money. But, performing an ROI analysis may lead to a better realization of the desired cost savings, according to a recent Unisys report.

According to the report, released Tuesday, 82% of survey respondents who conducted an ROI analysis said that it lead them to realize their expected cost savings. Conversely, only 57% of respondents who didn’t perform an ROI analysis realise their cost savings expectations. Therefore, companies that perform an ROI analysis are 44% more successful in realizing their cost-savings expectations, a Unisys press release said.

For its report, Unisys surveyed 400 IT and business executives in eight countries. Of those, 80% expected cost savings from adopting the cloud and 59% conducted a formal ROI analysis before migrating, the release said.

SEE: Special report: The cloud v. data center decision (free PDF)

“Migration offers a plethora of cloud options – private, public, hybrid, community and other combinations,” Paul Gleeson, vice president of Cloud and Infrastructure Services at Unisys, said in the release. “However, those choices can create unforeseen complexities that can easily derail expectations. Those organizations that plan their cloud migration carefully, drawing on the expertise of established partners where it makes the most strategic sense, are the ones best positioned to realize operational, financial and competitive success from cloud transformation.”

The survey response data also shows some interesting trends in the data center. According to the report, respondents believed that the use of traditional on-premises data centers would drop from 43% currently to 29% in 2019. They also said that private cloud use would grow from 20-28% in that same time frame.

Public cloud, on the other hand, was projected to grow from 18-21%, while hybrid cloud was expected to grow from 11-13%, according to respondents.

So, what will the cloud improve in the enterprise? According to those who responded to the survey, 94% said disaster recovery, agility, storage efficiency, flexibility, and continuity are the most important drivers.

There are still concerns, though. Some 42% cited security and compliance as causing slowdowns in migration. This same number of respondents also listed security as the biggest challenge in cloud management, according to another Unisys survey.

The 3 big takeaways for TechRepublic readers

  1. Companies that perform an ROI analysis are 44% more likely to realize their expected cost savings in a cloud migration, according to a Unisys survey.
  2. In the future, traditional on-premises data center use will drop while private cloud use and public cloud deployments will grow, according to respondents.
  3. Disaster recovery, agility, storage efficiency, flexibility, and continuity were cited by 94% of respondents as the main drivers for cloud adoption.