The ROD team were in attendance last week at the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) Event, held at the rather plush offices of Hogan Lovells in Holborn. With panoramic views high above the city, it was an apt venue for a cloud industry event.
On the agenda, were the results of a recent cloud adoption survey, which as a user and supplier to the cloud ecosystem was of particular interest. The results, delivered by Andy Burton, Chairman of CIF was the third survey conducted in the last 18 months by Vanson Bourne, across UK based end users and vendors. The report stated that approximately 60% of organisations are currently and actively utilising cloud services, which is a 27% increase over the last 18 months, with the fastest growth areas being the Enterprise and Public sectors.
The report went on to state that there has been a clear increase of adoption rates across all sectors of over 50%, with the Public sector increasing by a phenomenal 62% alone, which only serves to reinforce the ubiquitous benefits and accessibility of the cloud; opening up the market for mass adoption.
It also said that of the 39% of companies not in the cloud, 1 in 4 will be in the next twelve months, a clear indication that the rate of growth for the cloud industry is still accelerating. One thing is clear, is that the UK still has a way to go before it catches up with the US, as their current adoption rate stands at 76%.
The main driver behind cloud adoption was even more telling. Of companies moving to the cloud over 50% said their main motivation was flexibility and speed of access to the technology over cost savings. One company present stated that the flexibility of the cloud has been a big plus for them, which has happened naturally and has been driven by the staff themselves.
The move to the cloud is also equally split between new services moving to the cloud and existing services wishing to upgrade. Amongst the end users, 92% of companies said they were satisfied with their move, 76% anticipated further investment over the next 12 months and 77% said it was a core part of their IT-strategy.