Eight out of 10 UK organisations use at least one cloud app, CIF says

The adoption of cloud computing in the UK has been taken up by more than eight out of 10 organisations, according to industry figures, and it is predicted to climb as a result of forthcoming technology changes.

Research by the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) shows that around 84 per cent of organisations are now using cloud applications. The survey of 250 IT decision makers in the public and private sectors found that the majority – 78 per cent – use two or more cloud services, and there is a strong appetite for adoption of more in the future.

Seven out of 10 told the survey they expected more organisations to adopt the cloud in the next year and eight out of 10 said the cloud was an important part of their wider IT strategy for the future. These attitudes mean the CIF is now predicting that 86 per cent of British businesses will be using at least one cloud application by the start of next year.

It’s widely expected that companies will turn to cloud computing to replace the services they currently receive from Windows Server 2003, which Microsoft will stop supporting from early July. However, the survey found that many businesses are leaving it late to decide how to handle their data that is currently stored this way. Of those questioned by the CIF, 58 per cent were still using the server, just two per cent fewer than the year before.

Poll respondents said customer relationship management (CRM) was the service thy were most likely to move to the cloud over the next 12 months, with disaster recovery, data storage and email the next most popular areas to shift across.

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.

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