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The fourth annual Wasabi Global Cloud Storage Index explores buyer trends and market dynamics related to global infrastructure and storage spending, including how storage is being purchased to support AI and cloud data security challenges.
Wasabi annual report
The key findings are centred around three key themes: data and cloud storage for AI, data security and cloud storage budgets and fees. The report unpacks the critical role cloud object storage plays in enabling cost-effective deployment of AI solutions at scale.
Wasabi Global Cloud Storage Index 2026 findings
For UK businesses the data points to organisations investing in the data infrastructure underlying AI, but cloud storage fees are causing organisations to overspend.
Andrew Smith, director of strategy and market intelligence at Wasabi Technologies and a former IDC research manager specializing in Cloud Infrastructure, comments:
“When we look at revenue allocations at the highest level of the public cloud services market – the vast majority comes from software/SaaS, not infrastructure services (IaaS). But emerging AI workloads and initiatives are actually changing this dynamic. What’s fascinating to see within our survey results this year is how most AI budget allocation is going toward infrastructure, not SaaS. In other words, it’s the complete opposite of what we might expect from a traditional market standpoint, and it’s a great illustration of the critical role cloud storage and cloud infrastructure services play in this generational buildup of AI-enabled solutions and services.”
Key Insights and AI Budget Allocation
UK organisations are allocating the major portion of their AI budgets to data, storage and compute, because infrastructure influences the success of AI implementation. The key insights uncovered in the Cloud Storage Index report are:
- AI infrastructure spend is a corporate priority:
When asked about AI infrastructure budgets, just 3% of UK respondents say they will lower spending. In the year ahead, the majority say they will either increase infrastructure budgets for AI projects (56%) or maintain their existing budget (42%). - AI budget allocations favour infrastructure, not software:
In the UK, the majority of AI budgets (62%) are spent on the data, storage, and processing power needed to feed and run AI applications. Meanwhile, 36% is allocated to AI software/SaaS solutions. - Overcoming data storage challenges is key to AI success:
Only 25% of UK organisations claim to be receiving a positive ROI on their AI projects, however almost half (48%) believe they’ll see positive returns in the next year. When asked about the challenges they face implementing AI projects and solutions, the top response was data storage challenges like cost, data access, and management. Other issues when implementing AI were compute challenges and issues with data quality. - British organisations strongly favour hybrid storage for AI:
72% of UK respondents say they are deploying hybrid storage solutions (i.e., a mix of on-prem and public cloud) to support their AI workflows, which is an indication of the flexibility and potential complexity that UK organisations are dealing with when it comes to managing AI-related data across multiple environments. - Public Cloud preferred for AI pipeline:
Interestingly, respondents identified two AI workflow areas where they prefer to use public cloud storage, specifically. Those workflow steps are data retrieval/ingest and aggregation and model retention and archiving. In other words, public cloud storage is often used to bookend an organisation’s AI data pipeline.
Dave Friend, founder and CEO at Wasabi Technologies, states:
“As organisations scale AI initiatives, they face mounting data storage and data quality challenges that can quickly erode ROI if not managed effectively. Cost-efficient, reliable storage is essential to ensure high-quality data is readily available for AI models, enabling better outcomes without unsustainable infrastructure costs. This drives home the need for affordable, secure, high-performance cloud storage so budgets stay in line with expectations, and data remains secure and accessible.”
The role of the Cloud Storage Services Providers
Cloud storage services providers have a major role to play in helping users keep their data safe and accessible, and understanding the needs of their clients.
- The cloud security confidence gap:
Only half (51%) of UK organisations are completely confident their data would meet regulatory or compliance requirements if audited by a third party. Meanwhile 62% are not completely confident their data would remain operational and unaltered after a cyberattack, which is adrift from the global average of 53%. UK businesses are rightly nervous about prolific cyber threats marking an opportunity for cloud providers to step up and foster trust. - Cloud providers can do more to protect customers:
When asked why they lack confidence, 41% of UK respondents said their public cloud vendor does not provide the tools needed to mitigate against cyberattacks, which does highlight a significant market need for more innovative and expansive data storage capabilities.
Cloud storage fees
Cloud storage fees were a concern for a number of respondents who were surveyed, and it was felt that fees were consistently driving an overspend on budgets.
- The fee problem:
48% of the UK’s cloud storage spending is allocated to fees, instead of actual storage capacity. This has remained a persistent problem in the four years of running the Cloud Storage Index. - Complex fee structures equate to budget overruns:
One of the results of this fee-heavy pricing structure is budget excess. In 2025, 46% of UK respondents say they exceeded budgeted spending for cloud storage.
Budget overruns are driven by a combination of increased storage use, growth, and migration; compounded by storage fees. 84% of UK respondents cited at least one fee-related reason why their spending on public cloud storage exceeded budget expectations.
Full report
Download the full 2026 Cloud Storage Index from Wasabi here to learn more.
Methodology: The Global Cloud Storage Index was commissioned by Wasabi Technologies, and developed in collaboration with Vanson Bourne. Wasabi surveyed 1,700 IT decision makers globally, with 200 based in the UK. The survey included businesses across Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the UK, the United States and Singapore, between November and December 2025, with rigorous scrutiny for suitable candidate participation.
