Last week ending May 22, 2011 features several survey reports telling us the different stories behind all the hype surrounding the benefits of cloud computing for business. Here are the 3 most interesting cloud computing surveys I have stumbled on last week.
Cloud survey #1: Small businesses lack cloud computing knowledge
Here’s the featured survey of the week: A survey commissioned by Verio (SMB online business solutions provider) on 500 small and medium business (SMB) decision makers reveals that despite being beneficial, more than two-thirds of the respondents are not sure whether they will signup with any cloud solutions in the near future.
It seems that SMB decision makers are making decisions in going cloud based on perceived benefits and trends; they are not making decisions based on enough facts and data – not because they are reckless, but because there are very little resources available today to help them understand the cloud more.
The key here is the provision cloud education to help SMB decision makers to make a well-informed decision in adopting the ever-evolving cloud computing technologies. So, I have to say we need more sites like Cloud Business Review to help non-techie business people to understand the cloud better.
Cloud survey #2: European businesses’ CIOs think cloud adoption does not require any investment
If you think you are technophobia and feel that there is no way you can understand the cloud, don’t lose heart. A recent study conducted by Easynet Global Services (a managed service provider) shows an interesting outcome.
57 percent of CIOs participating in the survey believe that their companies’ existing network can handle the cloud without any additional investment; in other words, they believe that adopting the cloud won’t cost them anything.
From those who believe that going cloud would cost them a certain amount from their IT budget, less that one-third respondents are sure that they are able to measure the return on investment (ROI) of the cloud adoption.
Those being said, the respondents somehow acknowledge that cloud computing is beneficial for their business. 55 percent believe that going cloud will result in cost savings; some other advantages of cloud computing is flexibility and scalability.
Well, how do you know that going cloud will do your business good? One of the important things you should consider is by calculating your cloud computing integration ROI. We have such tool available for free – cloud migration ROI calculator.
Cloud survey #3: 70 percent of Interop Las Vegas 2011 attendees lack confident in their cloud strategy
A survey conducted by ScienceLogic Inc. (IT operations and cloud management solutions provider) during Interop Las Vegas – an IT conference and expo – reveals that almost 70 percent of 150 total respondents admit that they do not have confidence in their cloud strategy.
One of the major concerns of is the cloud security and bandwidth issues – 68 percent worry about unauthorized access to the cloud. Another concern involves the potential issues caused by the complexity in managing both virtual and physical resources.
Again, measuring the cloud performance is a big issue. More than a third of respondents are clueless about how to measure cloud performance.
Cloud computing – beneficial, but…
Cloud computing proves to bring plenty of benefit for businesses. However, it’s rapidly evolving; innovation after innovation is being introduced to the market, making things difficult for decision makers to catch up.
Before deciding to go cloud, it’s only logical for businesses to find out as much as they can about going cloud – particularly weighing the benefits and risks of cloud computing; they shouldn’t decide based on hunches and trends.
