UK businesses are still treading cautiously when it comes to moving to the cloud, with just three per cent having completed their cloud-based mission.
So claims research by Vanson Bourne - on behalf of Redcentric - which found that 41 per cent of senior IT managers said they have only taken their first steps towards introducing cloud services, while 32 per cent claim they have reached the halfway point. Only 11 per cent said they can see the end of their cloud adoption journey on the horizon.
Half of the 200 people surveyed said they will only take onboard cloud services they see as a natural progression for their business, adapting their policy as needs changed, while just 16 per cent said they wanted to move to the cloud as quickly as possible.
The research concurred with other report suggestions that a hybrid model will be the most favourable for businesses, with 63 per cent of respondents reporting their preferred model was using a mixture of different cloud services.
More than two-thirds (65 per cent) of research respondents wanted a flexible approach that could be changed according to business needs, while 22 per cent said their organisations were taking a quick, tactical approach. Some 14 per cent think of the cloud as a long-term, progressive solution.
“UK IT managers clearly remain pragmatic about the adoption and benefits of cloud. Most want it to work alongside their existing infrastructures in hybrid form but few are willing to stake their entire future strategy on it – yet," said Andy Mills, group sales director at Redcentric.
“It’s positive to see that in spite of being in the early stages of their journey only a small portion of UK IT management is viewing cloud with high caution," he continued.
"Most have embraced the fact that cloud will play a significant part in their IT future.”
