New business start-ups boosted by the cloud
New business start-ups boosted by the cloud
Cloud-based computing is helping new businesses get off the ground, as well as bringing myriad positive benefits to existing organisations, new research has found.
The study – which was carried out by Rackspace Hosting and UK-based Manchester Business School – polled 1,300 executives both in the UK and the US and found that the cloud was playing a major part in laying the groundwork for new business start-ups.
The majority of survey respondents agreed with the statement that “cloud computing is a key factor in the recent boom of entrepreneurs and start-ups.” Twenty-five per cent of respondents agreed 'strongly' with this statement, Forbes reported.
As almost half of executives polled had recently set up a business, they were perfectly placed to answer questions relating to the impact cloud computing had had on their start-up.
Fifty-two per cent reported that they would not have been able to afford IT resources located on site, and would have had trouble getting hold of IT systems were it not for the cloud. Forty-three per cent reported that the availability of the cloud made it far easier to start up the business. Almost half - 49 per cent – confirmed that cloud computing helped their business to compete with far larger companies.
Meanwhile, large companies reported that cloud-based computing had brought major cost-saving benefits, with 66 per cent of those who make use of private or public cloud services believing that the cloud has lowered their IT spend. An average saving of 23 per cent on IT costs was reported by those businesses that do currently make use of 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.
