Analytics Slideshow: Calculating Cloud ROI
Highlights of exclusive InformationWeek Analytics research as it appears in "Cloud ROI: Calculating Costs, Benefits, Returns," our report and visual case study evaluating the fiscal consideration companies apply before tapping into the public cloud.
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Application delivery is the most popular cloud service among the nearly 400 business technology professionals who responded to our survey, with storage and virtual servers ranking second; web platform and data services follow at 16% each. More than a quarter of respondents said they're considering using the cloud but haven't signed on yet.
Learn more about InformationWeek Analytics' Cloud ROI: Calculating Costs, Benefits, Returns.
Does CIO stand for Cloud Implementation Opposition? Maybe so. Poll respondents said CIOs/CTOs in their organizations are nearly twice as likely as corporate execs and other IT management to put the kibosh on cloud projects.
Learn more about InformationWeek Analytics' Cloud ROI: Calculating Costs, Benefits, Returns.
The vast majority of respondents said IT is involved in their companies' cloud initiatives. Yet while 94% of IT pros believe the business side solicits their participation in cloud projects, only 79% of business respondents concur -- the business folks are more than three times as likely as IT to say IT is uninvolved in cloud programs. Does this mean vendors are bypassing IT and dealing directly with individual business units, putting security, compliance and management at risk?
Learn more about InformationWeek Analytics' Cloud ROI: Calculating Costs, Benefits, Returns.
Nearly two-thirds of survey respondents said they "often" or "occasionally" need to be able to add capacity to apps and other resources fast. But does the price of s-t-r-e-t-c-h-a-b-i-l-i-t-y in the cloud pay off? That depends in part on the technology (it's generally easier to expand or contract native cloud apps than legacy apps, for instance) and comparable costs of in-house systems. Either way, even "quick" expansion is rarely as simple as some cloud vendors make it sound.
Learn more about InformationWeek Analytics' Cloud ROI: Calculating Costs, Benefits, Returns.
Silos are out, sharing is in: Integration with other enterprise apps is the single most important factor respondents take into account when selecting business technology for their organizations, with hardware and software cost the No. 2 factor; concerns about data loss, business continuity and customer privacy are in a near-tie for third place. What's not a consideration? Surprisingly, less than a third of all respondents said the cost of non-IT staff time to implement business technology comes into play.
Learn more about InformationWeek Analytics' Cloud ROI: Calculating Costs, Benefits, Returns.
Nearly 70% of respondents said they're "likely" or "highly likely" to comprehensively evaluate ROI for the anticipated lifespan of a cloud project-the rest of the crowd is less focused on financial return, perhaps because the technology is changing so rapidly and their cloud projects are still in the pilot stage. A bigger commitment to the cloud will demand more financial homework.
Learn more about InformationWeek Analytics' Cloud ROI: Calculating Costs, Benefits, Returns.
Nearly 70% of respondents said they're "likely" or "highly likely" to comprehensively evaluate ROI for the anticipated lifespan of a cloud project-the rest of the crowd is less focused on financial return, perhaps because the technology is changing so rapidly and their cloud projects are still in the pilot stage. A bigger commitment to the cloud will demand more financial homework.
Learn more about InformationWeek Analytics' Cloud ROI: Calculating Costs, Benefits, Returns.
Application delivery is the most popular cloud service among the nearly 400 business technology professionals who responded to our survey, with storage and virtual servers ranking second; web platform and data services follow at 16% each. More than a quarter of respondents said they're considering using the cloud but haven't signed on yet.
Learn more about InformationWeek Analytics' Cloud ROI: Calculating Costs, Benefits, Returns.
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