CIF reveals cloud predictions for 2015
Cloud adoption will increase in the early months of 2015, forecasts the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF).
The organisation predicts that 90 per cent of UK-based companies will have formally adopted at least one cloud service by the end of next year. The body stated that this will be up from 78 per cent in 2014, while two-thirds (60 per cent) of these will use two or more material cloud services.
Among the catalysts for the increase in use of the cloud will be the end of support for Microsoft Windows Server 2003 in July 2015, the CIF noted.
Alex Hilton, chief executive officer of CIF, explained that the ceasing of support for both Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and Small Business Server 2003 will be the "most significant IT refresh of the 21st century to date".
He added: "These products have not only underpinned the IT server market for the last decade they have been the basis upon which many local IT providers have built their businesses. In the UK alone, an average of 1,000 servers per day are likely to need to be transitioned in the final year of support."
Mr Hilton suggested that some organisations will move their server workloads to cloud services and others will redefine their IT strategies completely as a result of the changes forced upon them.
"The next 12 months represent a great opportunity for customers to make a cloud migration and adopt the latest enterprise ready technology at a fraction of the price," he said.
CIF research shows that over two-thirds (61 per cent) of UK organisations are still running Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and will need to find an alternative by summer 2015.
Glenn Woolaghan, UK small to medium-sized businesses director at Microsoft, said: "Businesses will be able to host applications in the way that bests suits their business and cost structure, whether on-site or in the cloud."
Businesses looking to move services into the cloud should evaluate the performance of their existing network and consider setting up a leased line or MPLS network.
