New research from the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) has shown that 37 per cent of IT leaders who use hosted cloud-based services reported that deployment could have been cheaper and easier. Furthermore, 38 per cent reported complexity of migration as the main difficulty when adopting cloud-based solutions. A key problem is that many suppliers reach for standard applications rather than looking deeper in the market for the most innovative solutions – which often come from smaller and more innovative companies.
Anne Stokes comments “Many IT service providers still believe that they need to resell or recommend branded solutions, but the advent of cloud has stripped away establishment providers like never before. The channel and business consultants need to refresh their worldview and take a harder look for the most innovative solutions to meet their customers’ needs.”
George Petri, managing director of SymVolli and strategic partner of Streamwire, continues “Furthermore, not enough care is taken to understand the customer’s business before deciding on a solution and this only guarantees delays and extra cost further down the line. A lot of cloud is sold off-the-shelf and while there are areas that can be commoditised in this way, when it comes to migration and integration, suppliers need to take much greater care.”
The CIF research polled 250 senior IT and business decision-makers in enterprises, small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) and public sector organisations. The organisations participating all had UK based operations. As well as uncovering the challenges that many face when migrating to the cloud, respondents also answered questions about the impact these challenges have had on their businesses. Of those reporting difficulties in moving to the cloud, 33 per cent reported delays in deployment, 28 per cent loss of employee productivity and 19 per cent reported a drop in customer confidence or loyalty.
George concludes “Cloud-based solutions have a profound and positive effect on the productivity of organisations but the journey for IT leaders to get there could be a lot easier. By looking for the best in innovative solutions rather than just for a common brand, suppliers can help cloud delivery be far more effective.”