CompTIA Releases Research Regarding Cloud IT Solutions
A recent study by the association for the IT vendor industry, CompTIA, explored the most common funding arrangements for the adoption of cloud IT solutions. Nearly 1,000 respondents consisting of both companies that rely on IT and business professionals heavily involved in IT issues, weighed in on the crucial issue of how today’s businesses are finding ways to work cloud computing into their budgets.
The most common solution among the businesses’ surveys was for the information technology department to foot the bill, even though the cloud IT solutions that resulted provided huge advantages for departments as diverse as customer service and accounting. In more than 50% of cases, the IT department budget was adjusted so that the entire company could benefit from services hosted in the cloud. In a further 25% of cases, cloud services were not directly funded by the IT budget, but other departments desiring to explore solutions in the cloud still asked the IT department for funding to make it happen.
Other models for funding cloud IT solutions did exist among the hundreds of companies and professionals surveyed, however. Almost 50% of respondents reported arranging to pay for services in the cloud through line items in the overall budget for the business. This solution is particularly apt for small businesses that may lack a formalized IT department. The percentages reported do add up to more than 100%; this is because some businesses reported funding their cloud security and other cloud computing needs through more than one financial mechanism.
Return on investment for solutions in the cloud
Although the various funding solutions are no doubt interesting options for SMB owners and managers, a far more salient issue is what kind of return on investment businesses can expect from the adoption of cloud IT solutions.
Here, the CompTIA survey produced decidedly good news. Almost 80% of companies that have transitioned to services in the cloud – and who are carefully tracking their return on investment – reported that their savings from the transition “have been on par with original estimates or even exceeded original estimates.”
These findings strongly suggest that although adopting cloud IT solutions can require some careful financial planning, the potential rewards make a transition to the cloud more than worthwhile.
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