The most popular and comprehensive Open Source ECM platform
Let us know more
Cloud Computing: The Cloud is Steaming with Hype
How many companies are actually using Cloud Computing? It depends who you ask. CA Associates did a survey that said that 93 percent of companies are using at least one cloud-based application now, and many companies have six or more in use. That’s in stark contrast with the results of a survey by SWC Technology Partners.
The SWC survey found that only 3.7 percent of companies are using cloud computing. 54.2 percent said that they have no interest in the cloud. The issues of security and cost are what are keeping those companies from pursuing the cloud. How can the results of the two surveys be so skewed from each other? One reason is location. The companies in the SWC survey were located in the middle United States, primarily in Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana. Those low numbers might just be an indicator that the hype of the cloud hasn’t yet reached companies in locations that are far removed from the high-tech cultures of the two coasts. Of those few companies in the SWC survey that were using cloud services, 65 percent use Microsoft’s Exchange Online, 48 percent use Microsoft SharePoint Online and 24 percent use Google Apps.
While medium-sized midwest companies may not have much interest in the cloud, that’s not to say that they don’t value IT. 88% of these companies have a “strategic” perception of IT, and their optimism in IT tended to correlate with optimism for the outlook of their company business. Elliott Baretz, Vice President of SWC, said that “a strong business needs to remain focused on what gives it a competitive advantage. I think that this is why we saw such a strong correlation between today’s thriving respondents and how they value technology. In today’s economy, understanding the value of technology is a prerequisite to success.”
Baretz goes on to say that “the technology industry can be rife with hype. As professionals in this space we have to look past the rhetoric and analyze our options in an objective manner. The survey is telling us that Cloud Computing is an option and not just ‘the’ answer.”
