Nearly half of UK organisations are already dabbling in some form of cloud computing, according to a new survey from the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF).
The research, part of a comprehensive review of the UK's cloud computing landscape, revealed 48 per cent of organisations already had some form of cloud service, with larger private companies leading the charge towards the technology.
And, contrary to received wisdom, the survey revealed the main driver for change was not the need to keep costs low but the desire for greater flexibility within organisations. This was particularly true for smaller organisations, as 63 per cent of companies with fewer than 20 employees cited flexibility as the main driver.
Perhaps the starkest indication of the growing enthusiasm for cloud computing was the high rate of satisfaction with the technology. According to the survey, 94 per cent of cloud users were satisfied with the service and looking to expand the technology into other parts of the operations.
By contrast, 52 per cent of the companies yet to invest in cloud nearly all had the intention of doing so just two per cent of these companies had no plans to go down this route.
According to Andy Burton, chairman of CIF, the results of the survey were very encouraging to the cloud industry.
"I'm very encouraged by these results," he said. "The reality is that customers are trying the cloud, they're doing it for a purpose and they're very happy with it."
He went on to say there was more caution in the public sector and in smaller businesses, but added there was interest from these sectors too.
Burton also said he was encouraged by the fact it was IT departments leading the charge towards the cloud. He said it was widely held that much of the interest in cloud was being led by business leaders, but the survey revealed that 65 per cent of the companies moving to cloud had the decision taken by IT managers.
"It's clear that cloud is on the increase and is part of a coherent IT strategy," he concluded.
