Large organisations are moving to cloud for IT services

Now South Africa's bandwidth boom has already allowed 46% of large local businesses to adopt some form of cloud computing, and by 2013 more than half will have taken the plunge. The findings come in IP EXPO Corporate Cloud Survey 2011, a new report by World Wide Worx commissioned for the IP EXPO technology trade show.

"Out of 100 large JSE-listed corporations that we interviewed, 46% are already using cloud computing," said World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck. "Another 6% plan to introduce it next year and another 4% the year after, so it will be close to 60% by 2013." The early adopters are pleased with the results, with 80% of the companies using cloud computing saying they were satisfied.

"While companies are starting to embrace the technology, there is definitely no herd mentality around cloud computing, which is a positive indicator," says Goldstuck. "Those who have adopted it have given it much thought and looked very carefully at how cloud computing can meet their needs. When a company takes that kind of considered approach, it is more likely to be satisfied with the results."

Cloud computing has major advantages

Only 13% of the total sample said cloud computing was not important for their business as they didn't see any benefits. Another handful cited poor infrastructure or security concerns, but most companies that still shun cloud computing are inhibited mainly by a lack of understanding. "The problem is that IT administrators are out of their comfort zone. Decision-makers are not aware of what the cloud can do for them because they are not getting the right information about the benefits," Goldstuck says.

Cloud computing has massive advantages as it removes the cost of buying, installing, maintaining and upgrading hardware and software, lets companies pay for services on demand, and creates economies of scale if a third party specialist handles the equipment for them. Goldstuck believes all companies should now be assessing it - if it offers clear benefits to their businesses.

For companies already using it, the most popular business model is to outsource their server operations to a third party specialist and access processing power, storage and software services over a private network. That saves them the headache of operating their own equipment.

"The problem with cloud computing is that it is literally a vaporous concept," Goldstuck says. "Some companies don't even want to start considering it because it seems so nebulous, but once you start using it you become a convert. When small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) see the benefits in terms of security, reliability and never having to worry about what's happening on their own machines for the integrity of their data, their attitude changes completely. SMEs see the benefits more quickly than large corporations because you can easily and quickly get a financial saving from the public cloud."