OREANDA-NEWS. April 17, 2015. Cloud Sherpas has completed a survey of cloud software adoption, usage and trends in global mid-size companies, including their attitudes and plans, drivers and barriers, top providers, business benefits, challenges and staffing. Conducted online in the fall of 2014, the study revealed that most IT leaders (70%) view enterprise cloud software as central to their success. However, only half of executives surveyed have a formal cloud strategy or plan in place to accomplish their technology goals.

Following are highlights from the 2015 Cloud Sherpas Enterprise Cloud Report. 

Survey Highlights

 

·      Most IT execs said CRM is the top business application in the cloud today

·      Moving into 2015, IT Service Management is one of the largest initiatives for enterprises, with 22% of organizations likely to move this application to the cloud

·      Efficiency (71%) and collaboration (66%) are the top two improvements that organizations hope to achieve by implementing cloud technology

·      73% of respondents say IT has benefited the most from moving to the cloud, followed by operations (41%) and sales (40%)

·      The top cloud driver for organizations surveyed is providing agility (66%), followed by the need to reduce costs (56%) and improve customer experience (46%)

·      Dealing with legacy systems is a top challenge for companies undergoing a cloud transformation; other concerns include security, privacy, compliance and governance

·      Top business improvements from cloud software include employee collaboration (59%), efficiency (55%) and engagement with internal or external customers (46%)

"Cloud Sherpas is encouraged by the survey findings which highlight the importance organizations are placing on the desire to build a cloud strategy, even though the majority lack the guidance needed to be successful. A transition to the cloud requires that companies consider multiple factors beyond price and vendor, including a thorough analysis of the existing application stack and proper alignment with business needs," says Matthew Johnson, Vice President of Advisory Services at Cloud Sherpas. "When stakeholders across the business, including executives, come together on a strategy and execution, companies will get the most benefit from moving to the cloud."