infoTECH Feature

June 12, 2013

Canadian Businesses Leverage Cloud to Drive Business Goals

Cloud technology and the evolving role of the IT department are critical to meeting Canadian businesses’ goals to improve customer service and drive additional productivity and cost savings, according to a new IDC (News - Alert) whitepaper commissioned by Telus.

In fact, 73 percent of businesses reported improved ability for IT to focus on core business as a result of cloud computing, according to the second annual Enterprise Cloud Study, which focuses on business and IT leaders from large Canadian organizations.

The study also revealed that IT leaders are using hosting and cloud to drive significant and incremental value to their businesses. In addition, the majority of forward-thinking IT leaders who integrate hosting and cloud solutions into their IT sourcing strategy believe they outperform their peers. According to the whitepaper, 66 percent and 64 percent believe that they significantly outperform their competition in terms of revenue growth and profitability, respectively.

Overall, the number one priority for Canadian businesses is improving customer service, which are leveraging cloud to achieve their goals, according to Tony Krueck, vice-president of business solutions marketing at Telus.

“IT leaders are realizing that moving IT functions to the cloud can have a real impact on their bottom line and can help them focus on their core business, including their customers,” Krueck said in a statement. “Those who have made the move are now reaping the benefits of cloud. The IDC survey found that an impressive 81 percent of Canadian businesses reported lowering the cost of IT due to cloud adoption.”

In addition, companies with a “cloud-first” mindset, which is defined as those who view cloud as a progression in IT services and integrate cloud into their decisions about software, systems and better ways of doing business, are 25 percent more likely to view themselves to be more innovative and progressive than their peers.

While cloud security is still top of mind for Canadian businesses, enterprises are making strides in terms of data governance challenges. Lack of knowledge and concerns around data governance, particularly in organizations that lack experience with public cloud services, continue to inhibit the growth of public cloud computing, according to the whitepaper. However, organizations that have adopted cloud have overcome data governance challenges and are clearly benefiting. The majority of respondents (73 percent) said they were able to easily overcome these challenges and that one of the top incremental benefits of cloud was improved data compliance.

“If we look at the results from the 2012 Telus IDC cloud survey, the number one reason Canadian enterprises are fearful to step outside of their traditional IT comfort zone is risk,” said Mark Schrutt, IDC Canada’s director of services and enterprise applications. “The good news is that this year, the majority of users said they were able to easily overcome these challenges and that cloud actually was a catalyst for improving data security.”

While Canadians continue to have concerns with public cloud computing, the study demonstrates that most Canadian businesses are meeting the challenges and benefiting from an IT sourcing strategy that includes cloud.

The study also found that 55 percent of organizations are already considering hosting and other services as part of their business moving forward but only about one-third are considering transitioning to cloud services.

“Now is the time for businesses to develop expertise with these IT sourcing options to realize a competitive advantage,” Krueck added.

Over the next four years, cloud is expected to grow by 25 percent and hosting by 9.6 percent compared to a growth rate of 3.5 percent for the rest of the Canadian IT market, according to the study.




Edited by Alisen Downey
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