CIOs Say Cost Reduction Potential Drives Cloud Adoption

More organizations may be looking toward the cloud, but which factors are flying them there? Information security solutions provider SilverSky revealed findings of a study examining key drivers of cloud adoption, as well as barriers. Are companies more confident in the cloud now than they were 12 months ago? Which concerns hold companies back from cloud adoption? We’ll reveal the answers.

SilverSky’s Silver Lining Report included 200 CIOs and senior-level security decision-makers at U.S. organizations, revealing that, as a whole, companies are much more confident in the cloud than they were 12 months ago, however, security and privacy concerns continue to hold many back from widespread adoption. Almost all (97 percent to be exact) respondents indicated that their confidence level in the cloud has either increased or stayed the same in the past 12 months.

Which business functions and services are moving to the cloud?
Respondents have moved one-quarter of all their business functions and services to the cloud, on average:

While many respondents have plans to move additional applications and middleware/infrastructure to the cloud, traditional back-office functions such as finance and accounting and procurement applications show no upward movement.

Why some executives are moving to cloud, while others shy away
The survey revealed that many executives are moving functions to the cloud because they expect it will reduce expenses, simplify operations and increase the reliability of business functions. Well, that’s the positive side of the story, but what is holding some executives back from stepping on their first flight?

Almost 75 percent of respondents harbor strong concerns around privacy and security, and for some, these concerns outweigh benefit expectations. Skeptics outnumber enthusiastic executives 39 percent to 28 percent.

A reduction in overall IT costs drive executives toward the cloud, right? While cost is noted as one of the major reasons for executives moving to the cloud, 38 percent of respondents indicated that cost is also an inhibitor. One out of every two executives surveyed are currently unsure whether cloud-based services will cut internal support costs, or add to them.

Which cloud vendor fits my needs?
Seventy-six percent of executives said that their own personal research of cloud vendors was the most important factor in their selection of a particular vendor.  Note to cloud vendors: Be aware of what people are saying about your products; it could be losing you business. The influence of colleagues and analysts ranked second and third.

According to the results, once organizations decide to migrate to the cloud, they look at three primary determining factors when evaluating potential cloud partners: assurance that the vendor can commit to stringent service level agreement (SLA) guidelines (43 percent), assurance that the vendor can migrate their employees efficiently (41 percent) and assurance that third parties can vouch for the provider’s security (39 percent).

The report was based on an online, quantitative market research study commissioned by SilverSky and conducted by independent research firm ResearchNow in late 2012. Most respondents were enterprise (36 percent) and midsize (39 percent) IT decision-makers.

SilverSky launched a new platform, combining Perimeter E-Security and USA.NET to provide MSPs with a unified security-as-a-service platform early this month.