75% Cos Say Poor Integration Of Cloud Apps Impairs Ability To Innovate

Organisations are looking to the cloud to change not only how they buy and consume IT, but also how cloud actually impacts the business. In fact, one of the main drivers for organisations deploying cloud applications is to improve operational agility and effectiveness. To determine if cloud applications are delivering on this promise, Oracle partnered with market research firm Dynamic Markets to survey 1,355 executives from companies across the world, including in India. The results showed that operational silos are often preventing organisations from realising the promise of improved business performance and highlighted the need for a broad set of integrated cloud applications.

Oracle announced the results of a “Cloud for Business Managers: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” report, which found that the majority of businesses around the world have not yet adequately integrated their cloud applications across their business functions. Due to this, many have reported operational inefficiencies and challenges around innovation.

The independent market research report by Dynamic Markets interviewed 1,355 senior decision makers from businesses globally. Respondents were selected from a wide range of business functions including R&D, Sales/Commerce/E-commerce, Marketing, CRM, Finance and HR.

The report found that in India:

• Irrespective of an organisation’s cloud adoption status, 74 percent companies have a cloud strategy in place and are prepared to take the leap into cloud.

• 78 percent of companies that use cloud applications say their ability to innovate using their cloud apps has been hindered in some way. The research shows that the main hindrance is the inability to integrate the cloud app with other software and companies have abandoned roughly 1 cloud app a year due to integration problems. Globally this number is 75 percent

• Integration problems are causing staff downtime in departments that do not even use cloud apps. In fact, according to the respondents:

• 25 percent said that their companies tried using cloud apps, attempted integration and were completely unsuccessful in their efforts

• 47 percent believed they were only partially successful

• 38 percent did not anticipate the integration issues when the company first started using the cloud apps

• 31 percent put the company off using cloud apps because of integration troubles

• With the increasing usage of mobile gadgets, the usability of business applications on mobile devices is becoming a key concern. 44 percent Indian executives are disappointed by the non-availability of cloud apps on mobile phones.

• 63 percent respondents cited usability issues. Across departments, those in risk / compliance roles stand out with 61 percent complaining of usability issues, as do 41 percent of finance professionals, 41 percent of HR and 39 percent of those in sales, marketing and customer services / CRM roles.

Global Study Top Findings

• Over half of respondents (54 percent) say their department has experienced staff downtime in the last six months due to cloud integration problems. In fact, departments not even using cloud apps have been affected by their colleagues that are.

• Over half of businesses (54 percent) have suffered from missed deadlines and three quarters of respondents (75 percent) have had their ability to innovate impaired by poor integration of their cloud applications, which has left applications isolated from the rest of their business functions.

• This is despite the fact that for the majority of businesses one of the main drivers for deploying cloud applications is to improve operational agility and effectiveness.

“Organisations are looking to the cloud to change not only how they buy and consume IT, but also draw a clear line between technology and business impact. However, according to our survey, integration and usability come to the forefront as the key issues troubling Indian CIOs when it comes to cloud,” said Shailender Kumar, VP, Fusion Middleware, Oracle India. “Oracle’s Cloud portfolio has been built precisely to address these issues; it offers integrated cloud solutions for the whole enterprise. This is a unique capability which means that our customers can source all of their cloud requirements from one place and deliver integrated processes across all their lines of business with limited downtime and minimal costs.”