The driving force in UK Plc behind the move to the Cloud is the head of IT or CIO, however a wide range of stakeholders are now involved in the decision-making process. This is according to the latest research findings from the Cloud industry Forum (CIF). CIF has launched its latest White Paper into the levels of Cloud adoption in the UK based on detailed market research conducted in Q4 2015 which polled 250 senior IT and business decision-makers from both the public and private sectors.
According to the research, the head of IT or CIO is actively involved in the decision-making process in 94 per cent of Cloud migration programmes and is the final decision-maker in over half of them (54 per cent). However the findings also highlight the growing influence of other personnel within the decision; some 80 per cent of CEOs/MDs are actively involved, the CFO in 76 per cent of cases and the head of a user department in 73 per cent of Cloud migrations.
“These figures suggest that CEOs and department heads are now taking an active role in IT procurement decisions. This can come as no shock as the move to Cloud is invariably a business driven decision and one that, in some cases, involves additional investment to support Cloud-based applications,” stated Alex Hilton, CEO of CIF.
“A significant proportion (69 per cent) of Cloud users report that they were required to make additional investments to complete their migrations. Just over half – at 54 per cent – made additional investment in hardware and 47 per cent in software. That said, 64 per cent of those asked stated that they were satisfied with their chosen method for migrating, with only 5 per cent stating they were unsatisfied.”
Key findings include:
Migration process
- Over half (51 per cent) stated that the migration process was easy, 19 per cent stated it was fairly difficult and only 2 per cent claimed it was extremely difficult.
- Of the reasons as to why migration was complex 41 per cent experienced difficulties relating to Internet access, 36 per cent found their migrations overly complex and data sovereignty was an issue for a third at 34 per cent.
These difficulties are not trivial. In 37 per cent of cases where there were difficulties it led to the delay of new product development, lost productivity was cited by 30 per cent and revenue loss by 19 per cent
Impact on the IT department
- Cloud adoption is being driven by the IT function as a technology strategy in the overwhelming majority of businesses – 69 per cent.
- Just under a third (33 per cent) are driven by the business on an operational needs basis.
- Cloud is part of an overall IT strategy for the overwhelming majority of businesses – 80 per cent.
- Cloud migration has also had a direct impact on the structure of the IT department.
Over half of IT teams (55 per cent) have remained at the same level but redeployed on new priorities. In a further third (34 per cent) the IT team has remained unchanged but the workload for maintenance has been dramatically reduced. Only in 21 per cent of the sample has the size of the IT team been reduced
Alex Hilton continued: “Cloud services are having a direct and profound impact on the way that IT departments operate, the type of work that it engages in and the relationships with the rest of the organisation. Rather than eclipsing the IT function, as is often thought to be the case, the research demonstrates that the majority of IT departments remain very much in control and that, for many, Cloud is paving the way for more productive and strategic work.”
