IDG Study Finds Managed Cloud Benefits Go Beyond Cost Savings
IT cost savings continues to be a primary topic in discussions about moving to the cloud; however the real draw for many is shifting. Saving money may still be a big focus for IT decision makers considering managed cloud services, but a new IDG Research survey, commissioned by Navisite, reveals there are more important business benefits driving adoption, including improved productivity and better client satisfaction. The factors that drove organizations to the cloud have expanded and the benefits are numerous.
Three out of five organizations are currently leveraging managed cloud services to extract benefits from their cloud deployments. While early adopters may have made the switch to cloud to save money, the benefits that followed have driven organizations to expand their deployments to reap a broad range of business enhancements enabled by cloud-based systems.
In particular, on-premise and legacy systems are being replaced at a higher rate; the survey found that 75 percent of respondents expect their in-house systems to decline over the next five years. So what is driving the increased adoption? While cost savings remains an important factor in IT discussions, other factors, such as ease of use, time to market, latency and security are coming to the forefront. As a result, increased adoption has been spurred across the organization.
Cloud is quickly becoming a crucial part of a successful business strategy and not just as an IT feature. According to the study, organizations implementing third-party cloud services are experiencing real business benefits that go far beyond cost savings. More enterprises are recognizing that the greater value of cloud is in how it helps the business do what it needs to do: innovate, connect with clients and provide the best possible client service. Today, the most important business trend driving cloud investment is the need for more flexibility to react to client demands.
More enterprises are recognizing that the greater value of cloud is in how it helps the business do what it needs to do: innovate, connect with clients and provide the best possible client service.
Over the next two years, IT decision makers are planning big things in the cloud:
- Cloud deployments will rise: The percentage of workloads deployed on-premise is expected to drop from 42 percent to just 27 percent, while public and hybrid cloud deployments are predicted to increase. This trend is being driven by plans to replace on-premise equipment and technology, which was cited by 59 percent of respondents.
- Managed cloud will boost innovation: Managed cloud will be implemented to reduce the amount of maintenance in an effort to boost innovation, as cited by 55 percent of respondents. For example, 73 percent of all respondents say that they have reduced time spent on infrastructure maintenance to some or a great extent.
- Cloud will add a competitive edge: With cloud enabling teams focusing on innovation, it will continue to have a direct impact on revenue by supporting improved time to market. Approximately half of the survey respondents cited managed cloud as a contributor for greater competitiveness in their respective markets.
It is clear that cloud benefits are expanding to different departments, business functions and overall bottom line with respondents citing benefits that, even a few years ago, might not have been realized.
Existing users of managed cloud services, potential users and prospects will always have reasons to prompt investment into cloud services. As cloud continues to build on its track record for tangible results, CTOs are able to state a stronger case for technology upgrades. Cost will always be a motivator for cloud adoption, but discussions today focus more broadly on cloud’s direct impact to reduce time spent on maintenance, as well as to enable more efficiency across IT teams, enterprise mobility in the workplace and improved employee productivity.
To learn more about the IDG research and survey cited in this blog post, download the white paper, Not Your Typical Cloud Story.