Survey Finds Cloud Adoption Hampered By Misperceptions About Security, Costs

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

West IP Communications released the results of the survey “Big Business Is Still Learning About The Cloud.” The study polled more than 300 IT managers regarding their views on the cloud and how it has or can change the way IT departments deliver telecommunications services to their companies and discovered that while the majority of IT managers believe quality of service would either stay the same or even improve when moving telecommunications to the cloud, concerns over cost and security linger.

According to the infographic based on the study, 40 percent of IT managers reported that their organization had plans to migrate voice/telephony communications to the cloud. A full 55 percent of respondents said, however, that they don’t think communication services providers offer sufficient security checks alongside their cloud telecommunications offerings, holding many back from migration of services. IT managers agreed that if they were to migrate to the cloud, it would be a private or hybrid model, with 55 percent reporting that they would implement a private cloud solution and 32 percent preferring the hybrid approach.

The report points out, however, that cloud solutions are actually more secure than on-premises options, which can be exposed to higher risk as a result of human errors, employee access, and overworked IT staffs.

The survey also revealed that IT managers were divided regarding how much a shift to the cloud would cost: 54 percent expect to recoup the entire price tag in savings, while 46 disagreed, saying “the ROI was not there just yet.”

Of those who did see an ROI, 74 percent expected to realize a savings through reduced costs of doing business, which includes both maintenance costs and the necessary size of the IT staff, with just over 41 percent expecting to recoup the initial cost in about 5 years, 31 percent in two years and 21 percent in just one year. Companies with larger IT budgets were more confident about recouping costs: 66 percent of mangers with company IT budgets higher than $5 million were confident the savings would cover the operating costs.

But while many IT managers perceive migration to the cloud to be a costly affair, WestIP states in the infographic, “The cost difference of a hosted vs. on-premises solution is typically no more than +/- 10 percent. While much of the same equipment is needed no matter where the solution resides, the cloud offers a safer, more flexible and more easily maintained solution. In addition, UC services in the cloud improve communication among employees and customers, provide companies with access to the latest software and allow internal resources to focus on tasks that are critical to the business.”

And the infographic points out, “The overall fact of the cloud is that capital expenditures drop dramatically while operating costs show no to very modest increases.”