Wasabi Technologies has today unveiled the findings of its fourth annual Wasabi Global Cloud Storage Index, developed in collaboration with Vanson Bourne. With insights from 1,700 business and IT respondents globally, including 250 Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) decision-makers, the survey spotlights cloud data security challenges, as well as other cloud storage findings, such as the growing expenditure on infrastructure and storage to support AI.

Amid rising cyber threats, ANZ organisations struggle to safeguard their data, with cloud storage providers playing a critical role

• Cyberattack disruption: This year the findings show 43% of ANZ respondents have experienced a cyberattack resulting in loss of access to public cloud data
• The cloud data security gap: Less than half (45%) of ANZ organisations are confident they can keep data operational and unaltered after a cyberattack, perhaps because 47% believe their public cloud vendor does not provide the necessary tools or features needed to mitigate against cyberattacks and 38% lack ways to validate or test preparedness.

AI infrastructure budgets are rising, with data storage and processing power taking priority over software solutions

AI infrastructure spend is increasingly a corporate priority, with 97% of ANZ organisations saying they plan to increase or maintain the same infrastructure budgets for AI over the next year. However, these investments are not solely focused on software; in fact, approximately two-thirds of these budgets (66%) are being allocated to the data, storage, and processing power required to support and operate AI applications.

“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),” said Andrew Smith, director of strategy and market intelligence at Wasabi Technologies and a former IDC analyst. “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.”

AI projects may operate at a loss now, but they reveal the path to future ROI

• ROI optimism surges for the year ahead: Despite only one third (35.6%) of ANZ respondents saying their AI projects are delivering a positive return today, ANZ leaders are optimistic AI ROI will change rapidly. When asked about expectations for a positive return on AI projects in the next 12 months, the number jumped 15 points in ANZ from the current positive return, to 50.8%.

• Data dilemmas: In Australia, data storage (including cost, access and management) was ranked as the top challenge in implementing AI projects (48%), meanwhile New Zealand cited data quality challenges (including cleansing and preparation) as their biggest challenge (56%). This highlights the key role data and storage play in a successful AI solution implementation.

“Organisations in ANZ are moving quickly on AI, but success will depend on getting the data foundation right,” said Craig Stockdale, ANZ Country Manager, Wasabi Technologies. “Our research reveals storage, data quality and processing power are now central to AI investment decisions, yet many businesses are still overspending on fees and struggling with cyber resilience. Optimising cloud storage and strengthening data protection will be critical to turning AI solutions into measurable returns.”

Cloud storage budget overruns are improving, but spending priorities remain misaligned

• Turning the tide on cost control: Budget overruns for cloud storage in ANZ have dropped significantly, down 20% from last year, with 46% reporting they exceeded their budgeted spend (compared to 66% in 2024).
• The way budgets are allocated still needs attention: Despite the improvement on last year, budget overruns continue to be exacerbated by a mix of increased storage usage, growth and migration; compounded by storage fees. A substantial 52% of user spending in ANZ is directed towards storage and networking fees, rather than actual storage capacity.
• Addressing the hidden costs of underutilised data: Even more concerning, most ANZ organisations estimate that between 25% and 74% of their stored data remains un-analysed and underutilised, highlighting inefficient use of cloud resources and unnecessary expenditure. This signals a clear opportunity for businesses to optimise their cloud storage strategies, ensuring investments drive real value rather than wasted capacity.

Download the full 2026 Cloud Storage Index from Wasabi to learn more: https://wasabi.com/download/2026-global-cloud-storage-index-report-anz