Businesses have reached a tipping point. No longer is it a question of “if” they should turn to the 
Cloud Computing in Businesses: Adoption, Impact and Outlookcloud, rather the questions are now a matter of when and which areas of the business would you like to see impacted first. It’s more than just collaboration and anywhere, anytime access. According to a recent survey administered by SAP and the Knowledge@Wharton group, 85% of respondents believe that cloud computing will not only transform their business, but their industry as well.
Why?
The survey discovered two main reasons why the adoption of cloud computing in businesses continues to grow globally.
- The first is cloud’s ability to accelerate other technology megatrends beyond its impact on IT infrastructure. 65% saw cloud as an enabler to mobility, big data, and analytics.
- The second is a competitive advantage. Where 66% said they expect a heightened agility to respond to the quickly changing market place.
Despite agreement on the value and benefits cloud computing could bring to the organization, 48% of the survey respondents said that they have minimal or no adoption and only 10% have reached a full integration of all their clouds.
What’s holding the others back?
There are three reasons keeping this group from fully adopting cloud, they are:
- Security breaches and data loss
- Cost of 3rd party integration
- Difficulty integrating multiple point solutions
The reasons are logical, with fear of undertaking a massive overhaul only to lose data or pay for the repercussions of a security breach. But many admitted that within the next five years they would eventually adopt cloud computing.
Despite all survey respondents being aware of cloud, many showing an interest in its potential, the majority are currently in the evaluation and trial stage. Where 34% of companies have point solutions that are only slightly beyond the basic applications cloud offers.
These solutions meet 20% of the minimal business needs, leaving many unsatisfied. But here’s the real kicker, those who are considered extensive adopters, those who have fully integrated systems, have almost all of their business needs met.
What’s to come
We are still in the early stages in the cloud computing revolution. Year after year the market size grows and in correlation does the number of businesses using it. Those who believe in its potential to transform all industries will continue to evangelize the technology. You can see it happening as the percentage of those using the cloud continues to grow year after year. With benefits such as a simplified IT infrastructure, flexibility and competitive advantage I have a feeling this won’t be my last cloud survey I cover.
For more information, or a copy of the full report, email valuemangement@sap.com then visit the SAP Value Management Center to take even a deeper look at the data on hand (registration required for Value Management Center).
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