Adoption leads to more efficiencies

The rise of cloud computing has been one of the most remarkable transformations of the IT arena. About six years ago, it was an approach taken only by the boldest and innovative of companies with many CIOs swearing that their infrastructures would never be placed in the cloud.

Just look at how the landscape has changed in just a few years: cloud is now a vital part of the business toolset. It’s something we see right across the board: for start-ups, cloud is the natural choice, saving thousands of dollars on set-up costs – and digital companies, where there’s a lot of innovative development work needed, there’s a tendency to go with cloud.

Cloud has many forms

Even larger corporates find that there’s room for cloud in their infrastructure. The technology is being used by more and more organisations. What’s more, companies have become more sophisticated with the type of cloud being used. In the early days of the technology, cloud was seen as being synonymous with public IaaS but the modern enterprise is fully aware of all the options and, when moving to cloud, will take a hybrid approach.

According to IDC, companies are split three ways when it comes to opting for cloud.  One third of businesses are reluctant to go down the cloud route at all; one third will choose whichever option is best for their needs, while the other third will tend to have a preference for a cloud solution first of all – the approach that many governments are urging public sector CIOs to take.

Enthusiastic about the cloud

The research shows other signs too that companies are beginning to get more enthusiastic in their support for cloud. The number of companies who are looking to spend 40 per cent – or more – of their IT budget on cloud services is set to increase from five percent to nearly 14 per cent by the end of 2016.

Why is there such support for more cloud?  It’s because companies who go down that route are going to be better placed for future growth. According to a survey from Dell itself, businesses who adopted a private cloud approach are seeing the benefits: organisations who have opted for private cloud have seen a growth rate 46 per cent higher than those who haven’t invested, while those who have gone down the path of public cloud services have seen a growth rate 51 per cent – a clear demonstration of how cloud can lead to a more efficient business.

Laggards will be left behind

All those early concerns have now been swept away: it’s not quite true to say that there’s a tide of enthusiasm for cloud – there are concerns over privacy, legacy integration and service delivery to grapple with – but the trend is moving one way only. Any company that is ignoring the advantages of cloud and doesn’t include the technology as part of a strategy going forward is liable to be swept aside in the coming years.

And those CIOs who swore they would never go down the cloud path? They’re going to be the ones struggling to justify to their superiors as to why the IT department is holding back company modernization.

Max Cooter

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Tags: Cloud Computing, Technology