Dell Technologies Releases White Paper "Sustainable Private Cloud: Evolving in Multiple Dimensions"
Dell Technologies, in collaboration with IDC, has released a new white paper titled "Sustainable Private Cloud: Evolving in Multiple Dimensions." This white paper proposes infrastructure strategies for Japanese companies to achieve both the departure from legacy systems and the transition to AI-driven businesses.
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- 📰 Published: May 11, 2026 at 22:00
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Dell Technologies today announced the release of a new IDC white paper, sponsored by Dell Technologies, titled "Sustainable Private Cloud: Evolving in Multiple Dimensions." Based on multiple IDC survey data, this white paper proposes infrastructure strategies for Japanese companies to achieve both the departure from legacy systems and the transition to AI-driven businesses.
In the IT departments of Japanese companies, long-accumulated technical debt and excessive reliance on specific virtualization software environments have become major obstacles to digital transformation (DX). As the adoption and utilization of AI in businesses are about to become full-fledged, building a foundation for AI utilization must proceed in parallel with shedding legacy systems to secure competitiveness. This white paper proposes a sustainable infrastructure that possesses the flexibility and autonomy required in the AI era, rather than merely replacing existing infrastructure.
This white paper summarizes the latest status and challenges of enterprise systems in anticipation of the AI era, and recommendations on the direction companies should take, covering the following items:
Cloud Strategy of Japanese Companies: Cloud-First Strategy Penetrates
Currently, the "cloud-first strategy," which prioritizes public and private clouds, has permeated Japanese companies. Accordingly, the multi-cloud infrastructure rate among companies using IaaS/PaaS is high at 88.3% (*1). On the other hand, in addition to the increasing number of clouds used, the operation on the cloud is expanding not only to information systems but also to core systems, leading to increased complexity in cost management and operational management, and security becoming a business impediment.
Outlook for Virtualization Environments: Avoiding Vendor Lock-in and Accelerating Hypervisor Refresh
Many Japanese companies recognize the challenges of relying on a single virtualization vendor. IDC's survey shows that about 70% of companies are considering or planning some change to their virtualization environment. Among them, about 57% of companies are considering or planning to change their hypervisor, which is the most common, and a refresh of virtualization environments leveraging the benefits of private clouds is expected to progress. In contrast, a simple migration to public cloud is only 12.9% from the perspective of skill shortages and cost optimization, and is not a major option (*2).
Active Legacy Modernization: Private Cloud Becomes the Main Player for Core Systems
Many Japanese companies have accumulated technical debt, leading to increased maintenance costs and risk of failures in legacy systems, which also hinders DX promotion. Furthermore, some vendors' announcement of discontinuing mainframe provision has also boosted efforts towards modernization. Against this backdrop, for core systems' operating environment three years from now, "traditional" is expected to significantly decrease from 41.3% to 27.1%, while "private cloud" is expected to expand from 42.1% to 44.6%, becoming the largest option (*3).
Technology Foundation Supporting the Transition to AI-Driven Business: AI Moves to Adoption and Expansion Phase
IDC predicts that AI will transition from the experimental phase to the adoption and expansion phase between 2025 and 2026, and states that building a clear AI infrastructure strategy is necessary for integrating AI into their businesses and deploying it at scale in the future. Key trend predictions for the domestic digital infrastructure sector include "adoption of heterogeneous computing," "promotion of containerization by AI," and "reinvestment in private digital infrastructure" (*4).
Requirements for Private Cloud in the Agentic AI Era and IDC's Recommendations
The latter half of this white paper lists five requirements for private clouds in the agentic AI era and presents three recommendations for realizing a technology foundation that achieves both existing infrastructure modernization and the transition to AI-driven businesses. In particular, the recommendation that "private clouds should be adopted that allow flexible selection of technology from a rich array of options according to the progress of a company's AI utilization" indicates the importance of breaking away from dependence on specific vendors or technologies and continuously evolving infrastructure.
Grainger Wallis, President and Representative Director of Dell Technologies Japan, states: "Many Japanese companies are at a turning point in their virtualization environments. Continuing to rely on specific vendors or technologies carries the risk of creating new technical debt. Dell Technologies helps customers achieve their business goals.
In the IT departments of Japanese companies, long-accumulated technical debt and excessive reliance on specific virtualization software environments have become major obstacles to digital transformation (DX). As the adoption and utilization of AI in businesses are about to become full-fledged, building a foundation for AI utilization must proceed in parallel with shedding legacy systems to secure competitiveness. This white paper proposes a sustainable infrastructure that possesses the flexibility and autonomy required in the AI era, rather than merely replacing existing infrastructure.
This white paper summarizes the latest status and challenges of enterprise systems in anticipation of the AI era, and recommendations on the direction companies should take, covering the following items:
Cloud Strategy of Japanese Companies: Cloud-First Strategy Penetrates
Currently, the "cloud-first strategy," which prioritizes public and private clouds, has permeated Japanese companies. Accordingly, the multi-cloud infrastructure rate among companies using IaaS/PaaS is high at 88.3% (*1). On the other hand, in addition to the increasing number of clouds used, the operation on the cloud is expanding not only to information systems but also to core systems, leading to increased complexity in cost management and operational management, and security becoming a business impediment.
Outlook for Virtualization Environments: Avoiding Vendor Lock-in and Accelerating Hypervisor Refresh
Many Japanese companies recognize the challenges of relying on a single virtualization vendor. IDC's survey shows that about 70% of companies are considering or planning some change to their virtualization environment. Among them, about 57% of companies are considering or planning to change their hypervisor, which is the most common, and a refresh of virtualization environments leveraging the benefits of private clouds is expected to progress. In contrast, a simple migration to public cloud is only 12.9% from the perspective of skill shortages and cost optimization, and is not a major option (*2).
Active Legacy Modernization: Private Cloud Becomes the Main Player for Core Systems
Many Japanese companies have accumulated technical debt, leading to increased maintenance costs and risk of failures in legacy systems, which also hinders DX promotion. Furthermore, some vendors' announcement of discontinuing mainframe provision has also boosted efforts towards modernization. Against this backdrop, for core systems' operating environment three years from now, "traditional" is expected to significantly decrease from 41.3% to 27.1%, while "private cloud" is expected to expand from 42.1% to 44.6%, becoming the largest option (*3).
Technology Foundation Supporting the Transition to AI-Driven Business: AI Moves to Adoption and Expansion Phase
IDC predicts that AI will transition from the experimental phase to the adoption and expansion phase between 2025 and 2026, and states that building a clear AI infrastructure strategy is necessary for integrating AI into their businesses and deploying it at scale in the future. Key trend predictions for the domestic digital infrastructure sector include "adoption of heterogeneous computing," "promotion of containerization by AI," and "reinvestment in private digital infrastructure" (*4).
Requirements for Private Cloud in the Agentic AI Era and IDC's Recommendations
The latter half of this white paper lists five requirements for private clouds in the agentic AI era and presents three recommendations for realizing a technology foundation that achieves both existing infrastructure modernization and the transition to AI-driven businesses. In particular, the recommendation that "private clouds should be adopted that allow flexible selection of technology from a rich array of options according to the progress of a company's AI utilization" indicates the importance of breaking away from dependence on specific vendors or technologies and continuously evolving infrastructure.
Grainger Wallis, President and Representative Director of Dell Technologies Japan, states: "Many Japanese companies are at a turning point in their virtualization environments. Continuing to rely on specific vendors or technologies carries the risk of creating new technical debt. Dell Technologies helps customers achieve their business goals.