The fourth annual Wasabi Global Cloud Storage Index explores how businesses allocate infrastructure and storage spending to support AI, the challenges organisations face when it comes to AI workload deployment, and the increasingly critical role cloud object storage plays in enabling cost-effective deployment of AI solutions at scale.

The Wasabi Cloud Storage Index, developed in collaboration with Vanson Bourne, is a leading source of industry trends and IT decision-maker insights on cloud infrastructure and storage services. Based on global survey data from 1,700 business and IT respondents, including 250 respondents in Japan, the study has uncovered key findings over the past three years on buying behaviour, user satisfaction, and the impact of hyperscaler fee structures on storage costs. This year’s research explores emerging challenges, including AI data storage complexity, data quality issues, cloud security concerns, and the critical service features and capabilities organisations rely on to keep their data secure and accessible.

Below are key insights uncovered this year among respondents in Japan:

Organisations are committed to AI infrastructure spending, and are allocating the majority of their budgets to data, storage, and compute – not software and SaaS

AI Infrastructure spend is a corporate priority: When asked about infrastructure budgets for AI, 0 per cent of Japanese respondents and 3 per cent of global respondents say they will lower spending. The majority (64 per cent in Japan and 60 per cent globally) say they plan to increase infrastructure budgets for AI projects, and 35 per cent in Japan and 37 per cent globally will maintain their existing budget.

AI budget allocations favour infrastructure, not software: Today, approximately two-thirds of AI budgets (67 per cent in Japan and 66 per cent globally) are allocated to the data, storage, and processing power needed to feed and run AI applications. Just 33 per cent (both in Japan and globally) is allocated to AI software/SaaS solutions.

“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 infrastructure spending continues to rise, driving considerations for hybrid storage adoption

Many organisations turn to hybrid storage deployments to meet AI needs: 61 per cent of Japanese respondents and 64 per cent of global respondents say they deploy hybrid storage solutions (i.e., a mix of on-prem and public cloud) to support their AI workflows. An indication of the flexibility and potential complexity that organisations are dealing with when it comes to managing AI-related projects and data across multiple environments. 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 organization’s AI data pipeline.

"As organisations scale AI initiatives, they face mounting data storage and data quality challenges that can quickly erode ROI if not managed effectively," said Dave Friend, founder and CEO at Wasabi Technologies. "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.”

Cloud storage fees and budget overruns persist

The fee problem: For the fourth year in a row, the Cloud Storage Index explored the impact of fees on cloud storage billing. Unfortunately, the status quo remains unchanged. Similar to previous years, 51 per cent of user spending in Japan (50 per cent globally) is allocated to storage fees, not storage capacity.

Complex fee structures equate to budget overruns: One of the results of this fee-heavy pricing structure is budget excess. This year, 49 per cent of respondents globally and in Japan say they exceeded budgeted spending for cloud storage in 2025. Budget overruns are driven by a combination of increased storage usage, data growth, and cloud application migration; compounded by storage fees. Most respondents (93 per cent in Japan and 91 per cent globally) cited at least one fee-related reason why their spending on public cloud storage exceeded budget expectations.

Cloud data protection and security remain significant market concerns, and cloud storage services providers have a major role to play in helping users keep their data safe and accessible

High prevalence of disruption due to cyberattacks: This year’s survey findings show 42 per cent of Japanese respondents and 44 per cent of global respondents have experienced a cyberattack resulting in loss of access to public cloud data.

An emerging cloud data security gap: Perhaps as a result of this high rate of cyberattack and disruption, 46 per cent of respondents in Japan and 41 per cent globally also said their public cloud vendor does not provide the necessary tools/features needed to mitigate against cyberattack. This is a critical finding in the 2026 Cloud Storage Index, and sheds light on an important market need.