Cloud has become more than just a buzzword, as more companies now see it as an integral part of their IT strategy, independent research commissioned by Cisco for its annual CloudWatch report shows.
CloudWatch 2012 surveyed IT decision makers across a range of vertical sectors in Ireland – including retail, finance, healthcare, the public sector and service providers – to examine changing attitudes to cloud computing.
Of these, 90pc said cloud is on their agenda – a huge increase from just 52pc in 2011 – and 31pc of those consider it critical to their organisation’s activity.
For organisations that have cloud computing on their agenda, 85pc are planning further investment over the next 12 months. And their No 1 priority? According to the report, reducing cost is the most important aspect considered when shifting to cloud services.
Companies are evidently becoming more comfortable with the prospect of working in the cloud, as concerns over security are down 20pc from 2011.
In 2011, 34pc of those surveyed used private cloud services, and this figure has risen to 54pc, while public cloud usage is up from 18pc to 29pc.
