Cloud Computing “Now Mainstream”

Jul 04, 2014

Cloud computing has achieved full acceptance as an IT deployment option in the UK - with 78% of businesses adopting at least one service in the area, claims new research.

The Cloud Industry Forum (CIF), an industry body formed in 2009 to promote best practice in the body, conducted a study last month, surveying 250 senior IT and business decision makers.

The majority of businesses (79%) participating in the study said cloud is now a formal part of their business strategy and 72% make new IT deployment decisions based on infrastructure refresh.

It found that there has been a reported 15% growth in cloud uptake since equivalent research in September 2013.

CIF adds it expects this figure to look more like 20% by September this year.

The trade group’s analysis of growth in the industry first began in 2010, with CIF data suggesting since then cloud adoption has grown 61.5%.

“We have now conducted five research projects over 48 months looking at cloud adoption in the UK and as such have sound basis for assessment and evaluation of trends,” claimed Alex Hilton, the body’s CEO.

“Over the next year we can say with some confidence that first time cloud adoption will increase by 15%. This means that 90% of all businesses in the UK will be formally using at least one cloud service by the end of 2015.

“In the near term, adopting will be driven in part by the end of support for Windows Server 2003 that concludes in July 2015,” he added.

Legacy On-Premise Systems Create Hybrid Market

The research acknowledges 85% of businesses still operate on-premise servers and data centres and this predominance of on-premise still has a huge influence on IT strategy evolution, based on historical investment.

This heritage is creating a hybrid IT world, though, as organisations have a mixture of both legacy on-premise systems and new cloud services.

Of those using cloud services, 45% of respondents said they used just one such service, while 28% have taken on two, 13% use three, while the remaining percentage use four or more.