Almost half of companies now use Office 365

A report by Bitglass has revealed 44% of enterprises in the EMEA are using Office 365, while two-thirds of companies are experimenting with Slack to boost staff collaboration and communication.

Google's G Suite (previously Google Apps for Work) is also in use by a significant number of companies in the region, with 22% using the business applications.

BitGlass's EMEA Cloud Report analysed how 8,000 companies in EMEA are using cloud-powered applications to improve processes to meet business targets. The company used "internally developed technologies" to uncover which applications the businesses were using.

“European companies were among the first to recognise the benefits of the public cloud but have long struggled to protect data as it moves beyond the network perimeter,” said Eduard Meelhuysen, EMEA VP of sales at Bitglass.

“In recent years, cloud security solutions have evolved to meet the security, privacy, and compliance needs of companies in the region, driving massive growth in adoption.”

The research revealed Germany and the Netherlands as the most security conscious organisations in Europe, with 55% and 52% of organisations respectively using Office 365 with SSO. Fewer people are using G Suite with SSO (10%), suggesting those using Google's alternative are less concerned about the security of their files.

When it comes to collaboration, Europe is more forward-thinking than the US, with two thirds of companies in Europe using tool such as Slack, compared to only one in three across the pond.

Unsurprisingly, technology and media companies are adopting cloud technologies faster than other industries, specifically the public sector, with only 17% adoption.