Over the last year, a number of reports have emerged that positioned the cloud as a dominant IT paradigm in the enterprise by 2015. According to one survey based on the responses of senior-level tech executives, the cloud has already gone mainstream well in advance of the deadline.
SunGard Availability Services recently launched a survey of CIO executives in the UK to determine the level of comfort with cloud computing.
The study, which was based on input from 250 respondents, found that in the enterprise setting, nearly 75% of all CIOs understand what is required for shifting to a cloud model. The remaining smaller number claimed that cloud felt “like unchartered territory.”
Interestingly, while the vast majority of those who agreed that clouds were going mainstream were adamant that a move to the cloud is no different than other IT transitions that have occurred in the past, a striking 74% believe that security is still a major issue.
The survey also found that that among those who did make the cloud move, the top three concerns that plagued the process had to do with keeping data secure and resilient, cutting costs while still maintaining service levels, and finally, the general logistics of moving IT in a new direction.
The benefits those CIOs surveyed were the same that are often repeated by cloud vendors; gaining a competitive advantage (although the meaning of that advantage is somewhat nebulous in this case), reduce IT overhead costs, and benefit from the added flexibility. SunGard Availability Services suggests that “these findings point to a common understanding; that existing infrastructures are rigid and expensive, resulting in a lack of responsiveness and ability to change.”
While the sticky issues of security and data protection still loom large, these might not be the great barriers for companies seeking to realize some of the benefits they cited in the study. This could be in part to maturation of the ecosystem—or just the success or the wealth of case studies from the entire ecosystem demonstrating how clouds are soaring at companies large and small.