Cloud Connect and Everest Group Study Distills the Cloud Adoption Facts from Hype

SAN FRANCISCO, March 26, 2014 — (PRNewswire) —  It's no longer a question of whether cloud is the right strategy, but rather how you will leverage the cloud's abundance of resources to outpace your competition, according to a study from Cloud Connect in partnership with Everest Group. Titled, "Cloud Adoption in the Enterprise: Distilling the Facts from Hype," the study reveals the increasing influence of the cloud on IT budgets, staff and business strategy. [Tweet This]

Free Webcast Today: Register now for the Cloud Connect webcast in partnership with Everest Group and Cloud Ethernet Forum happening today, March 26, 2014 at 10:00am PT to hear the full results of the Cloud Adoption Survey: http://bit.ly/CCWebcast

"The new reality our research points to is that the modern enterprise will not be defined by public, private or hybrid but rather all of the above," explained Steve Wylie, Cloud Connect General Manager. "Companies will be working within very heterogeneous cloud environments putting additional pressure on IT in dealing with these additional complexities. The Cloud Connect Summit will continue to deliver an unparalleled program each year rich in content to help IT leaders implement and evolve an effective cloud strategy."

Here are a few highlights from the study:

Hype: The CIO role is dead.

• Fact: While the CIO role and the overall IT organization have been under fire over the last couple of years as cloud has enabled people outside of the CIO/IT organization to source their own technology, more than 75% of the enterprises surveyed believe its critical for the cloud services ecosystem.

Hype: Cloud is relevant only for technology needs.

• Fact: Historically, moving to the cloud has been viewed primarily as a technology cost savings – cheaper computing and storage. Today 56% of enterprises consider cloud to be a strategic business differentiator that enables operational excellence and accelerated innovation.

Hype: Enterprises are "hardly" spending on cloud.

• Fact: As the value proposition of cloud is increasingly being realized, the study found that 58% of the enterprises spend more than 10% of their annual IT budgets on cloud services.

Hype: Security concerns are a thing of the past.

• Fact: Enterprises still consider better security and greater control over assets and data to be some of the most important factors in choosing a cloud solution. While this used to mean that they would automatically choose private cloud for security, this scenario is expected to change as public cloud providers are making considerable investments to strengthen their security architecture. Hybrid is expected to be the way forward.

Hype: Cloud consumption is simple. External help is not needed.

• Fact: In actuality, more than 65% of enterprises believe they need help to deploy cloud solutions as most lack the internal IT skills and expertise needed. Most are likely to engage third-party service providers and so it will be important for these providers to adopt a business process approach while assisting in the cloud adoption journey.

The Cloud Connect Summit co-located with Interop Las Vegas March 31 – April 1, 2014 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center will break down the most pressing cloud technology for today's business. For more information on the Cloud Connect Summit and to register, please visit: http://bit.ly/CCLV14.

You can read the full study here: www.everestgrp.com/ccevent

About Cloud Connect
Cloud Connect, produced by UBM Tech, is the defining event of the cloud enabled enterprise and the only venue where attendees learn how to leverage the cloud ecosystem to develop new services, revenue streams and business models. As both a conference and an exhibition, Cloud Connect's goal is to chart the course of cloud computing's development by bringing together enterprise technology and business stakeholders with cloud service providers and solution innovators. Cloud Connect offers in-depth boot camps, panel discussions and access to a host of industry experts, all designed to help organizations weigh their cloud options and drive business transformation. For more information visit:  www.cloudconnectevent.com.

About UBM Tech
UBM Tech is a global media business that brings together the world's technology communities through live events, online properties and custom services. UBM Tech's community-focused approach provides its users and clients with expertly curated research, education, training, community advocacy, user-generated content and peer-to-peer engagement opportunities that serve the Electronics, Security, Enterprise IT and Communications, Network Infrastructure and Applications, Game and App Developers, and Tech Marketing communities. UBM Tech's brands include Black Hat, DesignCon, EE Times, Enterprise Connect, Game Developers Conference (GDC), HDI, InformationWeek, and Interop. Create, a UBM Tech full range marketing services division, includes custom events, content marketing solutions, community development and demand generation programs based on its content and technology market expertise. UBM Tech is a part of UBM (UBM.L), a global provider of media and information services with a market capitalization of more than $2.5 billion. For more information, go to http://tech.ubm.com.

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SOURCE UBM Tech