Cos Ready To Loosen Purse Strings For Good Services, Support From Cloud Providers

Nine in ten (91 percent) of IT decision makers have a positive opinion of cloud computing according to a national survey commissioned by Rackspace Hosting.

IT decision makers view customer service and technical support as important considerations when choosing a cloud computing provider.

By a three to one ratio (75 percent to 25 percent), the IT decision makers surveyed prefer a cloud provider with strong customer service and technical support even if that provider has higher prices. This view was consistent by IT decision makers regardless of organisation size and type.

IT decision-makers also ranked the ability to add computing power, the ability to move data easily between cloud providers and concerns over vendor lock-in as important considerations when choosing a cloud provider.

“The world is in the midst of a tectonic shift toward cloud computing that is revolutionising the way companies do business,” said Rackspace CEO Lanham Napier. “The survey shows that IT decision-makers understand the importance of selecting a cloud provider that empowers their businesses with the systems, products, and customer service capabilities to successfully make the transition to the cloud.”

“We believe it is important that companies be empowered with choice, an open cloud and the high level of technical support they need to concentrate on their core business,” added Napier. “A chief benefit for IT decision makers using open-source technology is portability of workloads across vendors and the elimination of vendor lock-in.”

92 percent of IT decision makers surveyed said being able to move data easily between cloud providers was an important consideration when choosing a cloud provider. The issue of vendor lock-in was an important consideration for 86 percent of respondents when choosing a cloud provider.

Rogue IT Is Prevalent

Nearly half (43 percent) of decision makers surveyed are aware of people taking it upon themselves to use cloud computing services or resources not provided by their organisation’s IT department in order to help with work projects. Among respondents reporting someone in their organisation using cloud services independently of the IT department, 38 percent said the main reason is to save time. One in three respondents believes it was because the solutions were not available internally or because it was a way to not deal with the organisation’s IT department.

Less Than Half Would Take Job with Company Not Using Cloud Computing

A question asking whether IT decision makers would be willing to take a job with a company that does not use cloud computing illuminated the strong reliance that decision makers have developed towards this technology. Less than half (48 percent) of IT leaders say they would take a job with a new company that does not use cloud computing, while 28 percent said they would not. The other 24 percent responded that they did not know whether they would or not.

“Cloud computing is spurring innovation by enabling business users and developers to deploy, configure and adapt faster,” said John Engates, Chief Technology Officer, Rackspace. “The survey confirms the rapid migration to the cloud as IT leaders reap the benefit of spending more time creating and less time configuring.”