CIOs Only Have 60% Of Cloud Budget Under Their Control

Almost two thirds of all companies are now using cloud technology, services or solutions of some description to handle IT infrastructure with CIOs taking control of well over half of all spending decisions.

Verizon Enterprise Solutions’ State of the Market: Enterprise Cloud 2014 report shows that 65 per cent of enterprises are taking advantage of the cloud and that IT is beginning the gain a greater hold over spending decisions.

This has translated to over 80 per cent of the cloud spend being controlled by IT departments and 62 per cent of the decisions over cloud technologies handled directly by the CIO. Collaboration between the line of business [LoB] and IT departments has also increased with 38 per cent of respondents admitting that LoB is responsible for cloud decisions during the planning stage.

'Detailed, Stringent Requirements'

The private cloud vs public cloud conundrum being dead is another interesting finding with the boundaries now blurred significantly due to the sheer number of different cloud services available and the amount of crossover between the two.

“When it comes to enterprise IT and cloud computing, the discussion has decidedly shifted from ‘if’ to ‘how’ and ‘what,’” said Siki Giunta, senior vice president of cloud services for Verizon Enterprise Solutions. “Customers are now coming to us with more detailed, stringent requirements and questions about where and how to use cloud to transform their businesses and mission-critical workloads, instead of whether or not to use it.”

In addition to this, enterprises are forking out more on the cloud with spending up 38 per cent compared to last year and 84 per cent of cloud adopters mentioned uptime as the most important factor when choosing a cloud service. This was compared to just 14 per cent of enterprises that said cost reduction was the main reason to move to the cloud.

Verizon’s findings came from a survey carried out by 451 Research that contacted 988 respondents, a separate survey of 181 Verizon cloud customers, anonymous Verizon cloud customer usage, and various reports on the market by analysts.

Author: Jamie Hinks