The benefits of some type of cloud computing – be it basic email or a database of contacts, if not going whole hog – have been demonstrated for some time.
Among the potential benefits is that it can take a load off IT department staff, letting them concentrate on more strategic work.
However, as organizations put more applications on the Web, some IT departments are discovering a pitfall: They’re losing control of corporate cloud strategy to business units.
That’s what a recent study by Capgemini has found.
(Data centre image from Shutterstock)
Among the findings: Some 45 per cent of 460 respondents said report that individual business units are ultimately responsible for their organization’s cloud adoption strategies.
However, the news release on the study didn’t suggest whether this is good or bad.
Boards of directors were seen as both a driver (29 per cent) and a blocker (28 per cent of cloud adoption. That suggests in many cases that benefiting from the cloud is still being hindered by a lack of senior level understanding, Capgemini concluded.
It also noted that migration to the cloud is being slowed by a number of worries, with over 40 per cent of respondents citing continued fears around security. Only 56 per cent said they trust the Cloud for storing data. Over a third (35 per cent) also cited issues with data sovereignty around the physical location of data stored in the Cloud as a key barrier to adoption, particularly among respondents in the Europe, Middle East and Asia.
As a result, respondents showed a preference for private cloud solutions: 40 per cent of organizations cited leaned towards off-premise and partner-hosted private cloud solutions and a further 26 per cent preferred on-premise private cloud solutions.
That’s why, Capgemini said, organizations are only shifting specific applications or services to the cloud when needed.
The consulting company says management and IT departments should take a more orchestrated approach to creating a cloud strategy.