Cloud Computing: Are IT Support Firms Missing a Trick?
The IT world is at risk of suffering from cloud overload.
The software as a service revolution is well under way and cash-strapped companies looking to cut their cloth are being bamboozled by providers offering what seems an endless supply of solutions – web solutions, hosted solutions, IT solutions…
As prices fall, there is a definite clamor for cloud-based services, and small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and not-for-profits are jumping on the bandwagon as they seek to reduce their overheads.
In fact user group the Open Data Center Alliance recently released figures showing that cloud technology is being adopted quicker than predicted.
On the other side of the fence, there is a growing sense that some IT support companies could be missing out on the cloud revolution ‒ simply because they are failing to talk to their own customers.
There also seems to be evidence that many IT professionals may not be taking the cloud too seriously and, crucially, could be failing to recognize the potential benefits. This was highlighted by an alarming recent report by risk consultancy Protiviti, which highlighted that 74% of UK IT managers think cloud computing has absolutely no relevance to their business.
A paltry 8% of IT managers quizzed in the survey said they were using the cloud for their business, while only 3% said that it had been adopted widely across their business. More encouragingly for cloud aficionados, 16% of companies were found to be looking into developing a private cloud service, while 10% were considering the use of a public cloud option.
As Jonathan Wyatt, managing director of study authors Protiviti UK, said: “Concerns over security and data privacy appear to be overshadowing the potential benefits offered by the cloud.
“But businesses need to be more creative about how they think about the cloud and the opportunities it presents. At a time when companies are looking at ways to grow while keeping a lid on costs, cloud computing offers a way to significantly reduce overheads and to allow supply to be more directly matched to demand.”
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