Cloud computing leads 2015 IT investments

Cloud computing has been named among the top areas IT departments will be investing in during 2014.

The new Computerworld Forecast Study 2015 reveals that spending on cloud computing will rise by 42 per cent in the next 12 months, while spending on security technologies will increase by 45 per cent.

Cloud computing initiatives were described as the most important project for the majority of IT departments by 16 per cent of respondents to the survey as the technology continues to move towards mass adoption.

Almost half (43 per cent) of the IT executives polled for the study stated that they expect overall IT spending to rise during 2015, while 45 per cent said the figure will remain around the same. Just 12 per cent of the respondents predicted a drop in IT spending over the next 12 months.

The Internet of Things continues to be one of the hot IT trends and the report stated that it will be the top new areas of IT spending next year with 32 per cent spending an increasing amount of money on it. This was closely followed by High Performance Computing (22 per cent) and energy-saving and carbon-reducing technologies (16 per cent).

It was also revealed in the new Computerworld Forecast Study 2015 that cloud computing initiatives are being viewed as the single most important initiative today in 16 per cent of IT departments surveyed, compared with legacy systems modernisation and replacement (12 per cent) and software on-premises (nine per cent).

Moving to the cloud continues to be towards the top of the agenda for a lot of companies due to the fact many businesses can save a lot of money by doing so. Cloud options also tend to be highly scalable and flexible, which makes them an extremely appealing choice for new enterprises or fast-growing organisations.

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.