Cloud support costs present a problem to CIOs

The majority of businesses that are using cloud computing feel they are overpaying for support services, a new survey has revealed.

Market research firm Vanson Bourne questioned 200 chief information officers (CIOs) on their views of the cloud and found that a huge proportion of them (186 out of 200) are using the technology in some form. However, the vast majority of the CIOs (80 per cent) chose ‘ripped off’ for a multiple choice answer that best described their feelings over support services.

Cost savings is one of the main reasons for businesses today using the cloud - as the services are delivered and maintained by a third party, this should lower an organisation's internal IT costs by removing the need to worry about support for when something goes wrong. This study would suggest that this is not the case, however, with 84 per cent of the total sample saying that it has not met their expectations on reducing support.

Despite having to still pay for support as part of the cloud's prices, CIOs said they were still facing various common problems. These include: slow response times to customer service queries (47 per cent), call handlers lacking technical knowledge (41 per cent), over-use of automated phone lines (33 per cent), complicated escalation processes (28 per cent) and a lack of 24/7 cover (19 per cent).

The results are worrying as they present conflict with one of the main draws of the cloud - it is a more hands-off service. However, this in turn means that cloud providers themselves must prioritise their support services because they are responsible for the smooth running of the technology for their customers, who will expect problems to be resolved immediately. The researchers say that too often companies have to pay a high premium to get the same level of service they got from their internal support.

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