(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Telecommunications provider Colt Telecom Group (www.colt.net) announced on Wednesday that it has commissioned research firm Portio to conduct study on its behalf which revealed that 68 percent of European CIOs and IT decision-makers say security fears prevent them from adopting cloud computing services.
This concern was particularly high in the UK with 74 percent of UK CIO’s highlighting security as the factor they consider to be the main barrier to cloud services adoption.
The study’s results mirrors a previous study that PEER 1 released in October, in which 24 percent of respondents were reluctant to adopt cloud computing because they believe there might be a lack of security.
The study surveyed European CIOs and senior IT decision-makers across 13 European countries.
Fifty-eight percent found that performance and the reliability of cloud computing services was seen as a concern, while 47 percent said that a lack of transparency over pricing models may be halting the adoption of cloud services.
The need to access data and systems from any location was the main driver accelerating the adoption of cloud services, while 62 percent found that risk mitigation and 57 percent found that innovation were important factors to consider.
Half of respondents said that email hosting and the ability to back up critical data is the most used / evaluated service facilitated by cloud computing.
A further 40 percent said the ability to access payroll and finance applications along with desktop applications is the key benefit of using cloud computing services.
Even though cloud computing is still in its infancy, the main benefits appear widely understood, with 48 percent of CIOs surveyed said that they believe the main benefit of cloud comuting services is to reduce costs.
Another 21 percent said the main objective is that companies do not need to own their data centers, while 19 percent understand it to be a service which helps companies scale up to meet their business goals.
In the UK, nearly 50 percent of CIOs and their peers confirmed that they are currently using or evaluating email hosting and desktop applications.
Eighty percent of respondents said that quality assurance from cloud providers will drive the adoption of cloud computing services, while 65 percent expect 21 to 60 per cent of their IT portfolio to move to cloud services within the next 12 months.
“Customers are rightly concerned that when using cloud services they still own their data and are responsible for it,” says Maggy McClelland, managing director of Colt Managed Services. “It falls to cloud service providers to ensure their customers are confident and knowledgeable about cloud computing services, security and data ownership. More transparency and a joint dialogue with customers will play a significant role in addressing the real concerns over the security, performance and reliability of cloud computing and this is essential if the industry is to evolve with credibility.”
