Mobile Access Drives Move to Cloud, IT Managers Say

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Being able to access critical information from an increased number of computing devices, including smartphones, tablets and laptops, is the driving force behind most businesses' move to the cloud, new research shows.

Conducted by independent research company TNS and technology-enabled business solutions provider CSC, the survey found that 33 percent of IT decision-makers cited accessibility to information through multiple devices as the most important reason for their decision to adopt cloud computing.

Accelerating the speed of business and cutting costs were also motivating factors in cloud use, the study showed.

The trend among U.S. small businesses was even more pronounced; nearly half cited information access through a multitude of devices as the most important reason for adopting the cloud, and 10 percent mentioned cutting costs.

Additional key findings of the CSC survey include:

• Few organizations downsize their IT staff after moving to the cloud. Specifically, less than 15 percent of companies downsized their IT departments after adopting the cloud, and 20 percent hired more cloud experts.

• The majority of businesses save at least a small amount of money using the cloud.  More than 80 percent saved money on their last cloud-adoption project, but 35 percent saved less than $20,000.

• Organizations plan to use cloud-based services for the long term, with 65 percent of companies choosing cloud subscriptions for at least one year.

• Cloud computing gives organizations a green boost. Sixty-four percent said adopting the cloud has helped them reduce waste and lower energy consumption.

•  Nearly all businesses boost their IT performance after cloud adoption.More than 90 percent of the businesses reported at least one improvement in the IT department since adopting the cloud. Those changes come quickly, with 80 percent experiencing improvement within six months of moving to the cloud.

The research on cloud-computing usage trends was based on surveys of 3,645 IT decision-makers representing all sizes of private and public sector organizations throughout Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States.