Two thirds of APAC firms exceed 2024 cloud storage budgets due to fees

A recent survey shows that 63% of organisations in Asia Pacific (APAC) surpassed their cloud storage budgets in 2024, slightly higher than the global average of 62%.

The Wasabi Global Cloud Storage Index, which assessed responses from 1,600 decision-makers responsible for cloud storage purchasing - including 525 from APAC - highlights persistent challenges in cost control, operational performance, and security considerations across the region. The APAC cohort included 250 participants from Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) and 200 from Japan.

Budget pressures

According to the report, nearly half of enterprise spending (49%) on cloud storage in APAC is consumed by fees associated with storage and networking, rather than payment for the actual storage used. The fees cited include costs for networking, data management, data access and retrieval requests, and egress, which together contribute to widespread frustration with existing pricing models.

Cloud storage in APAC is at a critical inflection point with 63% of organisations exceeding their budgets and nearly half of all spending going toward fees rather than storage. As organisations rethink their cloud strategies, it's clear that reducing fees, improving performance, and ensuring stronger security measures are key priorities for IT decision-makers across the region as they face mounting financial pressures, along with the need to support emerging workloads like GenAI.

This perspective was offered by Andrew Smith, Senior Manager of Strategy and Market Intelligence at Wasabi Technologies.

The prevalence of egress and access fees has directly affected business operations. The report notes that 50% of APAC organisations have experienced IT or business delays due to these charges. About one in six surveyed APAC firms have reported negative impacts stemming from performance delays in cold storage systems.

Trends in Australia and New Zealand

Sustainability has risen to the forefront of cloud storage decision-making in Australia and New Zealand, surpassing other considerations for service provider selection. Despite the focus on greener IT solutions, unpredictability in cloud storage pricing remains a significant concern. Approximately 66% of organisations in ANZ exceeded their planned storage spending in 2024, a figure notably above the global average.

The study found that variable pricing and unpredictable billing, especially due to egress and other usage-based fees, are principal sources of dissatisfaction for public cloud storage users in ANZ. Recovery of data for backup purposes is a frequent activity, with 68% of ANZ organisations retrieving information from the cloud at least weekly, driving up operational expenses and contributing to the rising costs.

The challenge of deep archive efficiency was also highlighted; all surveyed ANZ organisations reported accessing archived data at least annually, with over half doing so weekly. One in six businesses cited negative operational impacts caused by cold storage performance issues or access delays. This finding suggests ongoing concerns with traditional tiered storage models' effectiveness.

Security practices also came under scrutiny, as less than half (48%) of ANZ organisations currently employ object lock - technology designed to prevent data tampering and mitigate ransomware risks. Another 48% plan to implement object lock within the next year or later, indicating increased awareness of its value to organisational security.

Cloud storage in Japan

Budget overruns were similarly problematic for Japanese organisations, with 63% exceeding their storage allocations last year. Similar to APAC overall, nearly half of cloud storage bills in Japan (49%) arise from fees, which respondents cite as the primary cause for dissatisfaction with their providers.

Japanese firms face particularly acute difficulties due to egress and other data access fees. The report notes that 65% of organisations in Japan have experienced IT or business initiative delays resulting from costs related to moving data out of public cloud services. This is higher than the APAC average of 50%.

Despite these financial and operational pressures, Japanese businesses are investing in balanced storage strategies. Approximately 47% take a hybrid approach, using a combination of traditional on-premises and cloud storage, consistent with trends across APAC.

Data protection emerged as the top factor when selecting a cloud storage provider for Japanese enterprises, in line with regional trends. The move to public cloud storage in Japan has reportedly generated security-related benefits; respondents stated that it simplifies both prevention and mitigation of unplanned data loss. Data recovery remains frequent, with 66% of organisations recovering information for backup and recovery purposes at least monthly - lower than the overall APAC figure of 80%.

Security, compliance, and emerging needs

The Index identified native data protection, security, and compliance as the most important criteria when APAC organisations choose a cloud storage provider. These priorities reflect increasing regulatory requirements and an expanded threat landscape, especially in light of concerns about ransomware and data integrity risks.

The report also highlights the mounting influence of new technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) on organisational cloud strategies, adding further pressure to address concerns about fee structures, data accessibility, and security controls.

The Wasabi Global Cloud Storage Index findings were based on independent research conducted by Vanson Bourne, which surveyed IT leaders at organisations of more than 100 employees across public and private sectors. The data provides insight into regional differences and commonalities in how organisations approach budgeting, provider selection, and ongoing management of cloud storage.