Top focus areas for cloud computing in 2025

Cloud computing was again a key enabler of digital transformation and innovation in 2024. Driven by strong global demand to establish resilient foundations for the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and other data-centric solutions, we expect cloud's rapid growth and evolution to persist in 2025.

While most organizations today have a cloud presence, more are gravitating toward hybrid cloud deployment models and multicloud strategies. These approaches blend the infrastructure, software and services of different public cloud providers, manufacturers, independent software vendors (ISVs) and partners — all in an effort to balance organizational needs in response to today's fast-changing technology landscape.

Here are WWT's recommended cloud priorities for 2025.

2025 cloud priorities

Cloud Operating Model (COM): Revisit your organization's cloud strategy and reevaluate your cloud operating frameworks and support structures in terms of security, policy, governance and financial performance. Doing so will set you on a path to architectural excellence and operational maturity.
Cloud data security, access and governance: Ensure the integrity and availability of your organizational data while optimizing costs and ratcheting up security in the face of exponential growth in data volumes, attack surfaces, threat vectors and threat actors.
Harness the power of intelligent cloud infrastructure and services for AI: Rapidly deploy and scale innovative AI solutions and capabilities that drive business outcomes by taking advantage of the on-demand and elastic characteristics inherent to cloud.
Look ahead to new modernization opportunities enabled by automation and GenAI: Modernizing legacy applications is about to become much less daunting thanks to modern automation tooling and code generators enabled by generative AI (GenAI).

Keen readers will notice these priorities logically build on each other. That is by design. This year we're presenting our priorities as something of a cloud capabilities model. In the whirlwind of day-to-day activities, many organizations find they can only focus on one or two transformative cloud initiatives each year. We encourage organizations to take a deep and honest look at where they are in their respective cloud journeys. If the goal is to reach Priority 3 but you've not quite mastered Priority 2 or even Priority 1, then you'll know where to focus your cloud priorities in 2025.

Read on to learn more about each priority, including the risks of inaction and our recommendations for measuring success.