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Three in five (61%) cloud migration projects are driven by business leaders, according to the latest research from Rackspace and Vanson Bourne.
The study, which polled 250 IT decision makers and 250 business leaders throughout October, showed plenty of boardroom-centric concerns topping the list for driving cloud adoption. The most popular motivation for migrating to the cloud was reducing IT cost (61%), followed by increased organisational resilience (50%), improved security (38%) and increased agility (38%).
Yet the research also argues a disparity between the boardroom and the server room. Only a third (33%) of IT decision makers polled said they are highly experienced with cloud-based infrastructure, with more than half admitting they looked to a third party for support.
Nothing wrong with that, of course, but Rackspace naturally argues specialist support is key to freeing up employee backlog. With support, businesses were more able to focus on streamlining operations (49%) and making sure operational models fit (48%), while without support businesses focused on making sure they have the right tools (44%) and making sure they have the right skills (42%).
More than half (58%) of those polled said their objectives had been completely met by moving to the cloud, while almost nine in 10 (88%) respondents said their organisation’s business goals were in some way met. 53% of the companies in the survey had used third party support.
“A move to the cloud is now an organisation-wide business activity rather than simply a function of the IT department,” said Darren Norfolk, Rackspace UK managing director. “Whether business leaders understand the practicalities of a cloud migration project or not, there appears to be broad acceptance that it is a ‘platform play’ that they can use to innovate and grow.
“Increased communication across all levels of the business will create new opportunities for the cloud to have a direct impact on the bottom line,” he added.
Recent research from the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) found that overall cloud adoption rate in the UK is now at 84%, with almost four in five (78%) of cloud users having adopted two or more cloud services. Norfolk argues that currently “fewer questions are being asked but plenty is being delivered” in terms of adoption.
