Cloud computing could save billions

Cloud computing could save billions

Deploying cloud computing solutions could save billions of dollars a year by 2020, it has been suggested.

A recent survey of large organisations in the US found that in less than a decade’s time, they could save a collective $12.3 billion a year. The research, which was conducted by Verdantrix on behalf of the Carbon Disclosure Project, explained that the new technologies will reduce expenditure and boost operational efficiency by delivering process efficiencies through automation. Cloud computing could also deliver significant benefits for the environment.

For example, 85.7 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions could be cut each year if companies turned to using cloud solutions. This equates to around 200 million barrels of oil.

Such predicted benefits from cloud computing are based on the assumption that around 70 per cent of IT spend will be targeted at its adoption by 2020. However, companies have some way to go to realise the advantages of the cloud, with just ten per cent of current IT budgets spent on the cloud.

Cost reductions were the primary motivator for the majority of the multi-national firms questioned. This year, the cloud is expected to deliver energy saving costs of a collective $824 million for those firms already making use of the IT solution. But with progressions in technology and an increase in uptake, this will rise by more than ten-fold during the next decade.

Paul Dickinson, executive chairman of the Carbon Disclosure Project, commented: “The carbon emissions-reducing potential of cloud computing is a thrilling breakthrough, allowing companies to maximise performance, drive down costs, reduce inefficiency and minimise energy use - and therefore carbon emissions - all at the same time.”

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.