How the Cloud Is Driving Business Transformation

Cloud services

As cloud computing adds complexity into the IT environment, there will be more demand for solution provider expertise to manage it.

84% of companies said their cloud use increased in the last year. About half expect they will be using the cloud for 75% of their workloads by 2018.

27% are using a private cloud, while 24% are using a public cloud. Another 17% plan to implement private cloud, 13% will adopt public clouds, and 27% and 28%, respectively, are evaluating private and public clouds.

54% use two to four cloud providers. Half (50%) use a “mix of public cloud, private cloud and traditional IT resources,” and 48% can easily move workloads between clouds.

56% reported using the cloud for many mission-critical workloads, while another 31% said they have at least one. A full 88% say the primary reason to move mission-critical workloads into the cloud is to improve responsiveness to the business.

The availability of the cloud environment is much higher than it is on-premise for 33%, while 27% said it’s a little more. Only 20% said security is much higher in cloud vs. on-premise environments for only, while 20% said it’s a bit higher.

69% said the cloud has enabled them to significantly re-engineer a business process. A full 77% said the cloud provides them with a competitive advantage. But only 16% say it’s a significant advantage.

37% said the cloud enabled them to adapt their business models. Another 19% are working on it and 25% see potential. Beyond potential cost savings, 40% said the cloud has increased revenue, while 36% said cloud computing has increased profit margins.

68% are investing in cloud/SaaS apps to reach a business goal; 55% said they need to invest in the alignment of business and IT strategy to meet priorities; and 83% see IT as an opportunity to differentiate, disrupt and gain share.