VERNON HILLS, Ill. – February 11, 2013 – CDW LLC, a leading provider of technology products and services to business, government, education and healthcare, today announced its 2013 State of the Cloud Report, an assessment of the current and future drivers behind cloud computing adoption in the United States, based on a survey of 1,242 IT professionals familiar with their organization’s plans for the cloud. The report found that more than half of organizations are migrating or planning to migrate specific applications or infrastructure to the cloud, and that personal use of cloud services is significantly influencing organizational decisions.
The report reveals that 73 percent of respondents believe that employees’ personal use of cloud applications and mobile devices has significantly influenced their organizations’ decisions to adopt cloud computing, with 68 percent stating that employee requests for cloud services have increased over the last two years. In fact, two-thirds of the IT professionals surveyed said that their use of cloud applications and services in their non-work lives directly influences their cloud-related recommendations at work.
Cloud computing is on the rise within organizations, as 39 percent of organizations report that they are implementing or maintaining cloud solutions – up from 28 percent in 2011.
“Organizations’ adoption of cloud computing has steadily increased, which comes as no surprise given the growth of mobility and the consumerization of IT,” said Stephen Braat, general manager, cloud solutions at CDW. “By aligning cloud services with critical applications and preferences of employees that use mobile devices, organizations can better capture business value that includes cost savings, increased efficiency, improved employee mobility, and an increased ability to create innovative new products and services.”
As cloud services continue to evolve, so do the decisions organizations face when migrating to the cloud. Although many respondents continued to cite security as a key factor to address in cloud adoption, other factors have emerged as well. Thirty-two percent of respondents cited cloud service performance, and 25 percent cited the technical integration of cloud applications and/or infrastructure with legacy systems.
Despite these challenges, CDW’s survey found a silver lining for organizations implementing or maintaining cloud services. Estimates of current-year savings from cloud adoption increased from 10 percent of current IT budgets in 2011 to 13 percent in 2012.
“Although the continued migration to cloud computing has presented new challenges, the benefits continue to outweigh the risks,” Braat said. “The fact that personal use of cloud computing among employees and IT professionals is influencing the rate of adoption within organizations speaks volumes about the emerging business case for cloud computing, and the need for solutions providers to take steps, as CDW has, to expand our portfolio of cloud services.”
The CDW 2013 State of the Cloud Report includes findings specific to each of the eight industries surveyed during August and September 2012: small businesses, medium businesses, large businesses, the Federal government, state and local governments, healthcare, higher education and K-12 public schools. The survey sample includes at least 150 individuals from each industry who identified themselves as familiar with their organization’s use of, or plans for, cloud computing. The margin of error for the total sample is ±2.7 percent at a 95 percent confidence level. The margin of error for each industry sample is ±7.9 percent at a 95 percent confidence level.
For a copy of the complete CDW 2013 State of the Cloud Report, visit http://www.cdw.com/stateofthecloud. For more about CDW’s cloud computing capabilities and offerings, visit http://www.cdw.com/cloud.
