Cloud Computing Adoption by Enterprises Will Double Next 3 Years

The number of enterprises turning to cloud computing to revamp existing business models will more than double in the next three years, a new study by IBM (News - Alert) predicts.

Also, nearly half of the respondents in a recent CIO Economic Impact survey indicated they evaluate cloud options first, over traditional IT approaches, before making any new IT investments.

The survey revealed that while a higher percentage of large organizations (those with revenues more than $20 billion) are experimenting with cloud, 67 percent of companies with revenues less than $1 billion and 76 percent of those with revenues between $1 billion and $20 billion have adopted cloud at some level.

Those sorts of developments are why some believe the global cloud computing market will grow 22 percent annually to $241 billion by 2020. That’s a market big enough to be interesting to lots of firms.

The Economist Intelligence Unit surveyed more than 500 business and technology executives worldwide as part of the study.

While 16 percent of the executives surveyed indicate they are already using cloud capabilities, by 2015 35 percent intend to use it to transform their business models. And operating efficiencies will not be driving the move.

While a little more than half of the respondents indicated "improving organizational efficiency" as a top business challenge today, only 31 percent anticipate it will be a top challenge in three years.

Instead the study indicates that their focus is shifting to growth and competitive initiatives. Some 62 percent of survey respondents said increased collaboration with external partners is a key objective for adopting cloud, while 57 percent cited competitive cost advantages through vertical integration as a major motivation.

About 56 percent said the ability to create new delivery channels and markets was an important objective for their cloud initiatives.  




Edited by Jennifer Russell