Innovation is becoming a prime objective of accelerated cloud adoption among UK private sector businesses, according to UK IT manager research by Vanson Bourne on behalf of cloud services provider Redcentric.
Driving business innovation is now cited by almost 40% of private sector respondents and at the very top of the list for large businesses with over 3,000 employees - 59% of whom said it was the key goal for them moving to the cloud.
Innovation was at the top of the priorities alongside cost cutting, business continuity and productivity. It beat improving customer service, reducing risk and improving collaboration hands down to become an A-list private sector cloud intention. Public sector IT respondents were less enamoured by cloud’s innovation potential however - only important to one in four.
The research of 200 UK IT managers highlighted five cloud personas, with innovators taking the form of risk-taking Experimenters - using the cloud to test new ideas with little concern about ROI – or Progressives - for whom the cloud is about change, building a new type of organisation and achieving new goals.
These innovative groups are among those making bigger, faster strides towards the cloud. Experimenters are the most likely to have reached the half way point on their cloud journey, with 57% reaching this milestone and 29% extending their journey to reap further rewards. Close to one in three Progressives either have the end of their cloud journey in sight, have arrived at their final destination or have extended their journey in some way.
Andy Mills, Group Sales Director, Redcentric, said “Moving to the cloud is often seen simply as a cost cutting, rationalisation and efficiency measure, but these findings show that it can be so much more and businesses can use it as a way of driving innovation and fundamental change in the way that they operate, what they sell and to whom, and how they go to market.”
The survey was carried out in spring 2015 by technology market research company Vanson Bourne, on behalf of Redcentric. Interviews were conducted with 200 IT decision makers from the public and private sector.
