IT Marketers: Secure Your Place in the Cloud

One-third of current IT budgets are allocated to cloud computing solutions, and 63% of budgets for cloud-based services will increase over the next 12 months, according to a recent study by IDG Enterprise on cloud computing trends. On average, organizations will increase cloud computing spending by 16%. Even though there are higher short term costs for implementing cloud initiatives, the majority of organizations (63%) agree or strongly agree that there will be long term cost savings.

IDG Enterprise will be hosting its Cloud Leadership Forum, which will be entirely devoted to the power of cloud and its impact on the enterprise. This trend is expected to become even more pervasive, with research showing more than one-fourth of all enterprises having the majority of their IT operations in the cloud within the next five years.

This trend, largely driven by business strategy, is also playing an increasing role in reshaping it. Cloud drives more efficient business processes, new products/lines of business, cost savings, and greater revenue opportunities. Research also demonstrates cloud’s significant role in the evolution of IT, causing IT/networking functions to become more critical across the organization (65%), to develop new roles (45%), and to rapidly expand their skill sets (69%). Although companies are making progress toward adapting their IT structure to accommodate cloud, security leads the list of ongoing challenges; with 70% citing it as the primary barrier to implementation.

Providers of cloud solutions have the opportunity to become strategic partners as cloud investments increasingly fuel business strategy, but a cloud message will go largely unseen without more specific unique value. When considering factors used to evaluate potential strategic partners, establishing effective security policies and procedures (80%) and proven service and support (77%) were top of the list. As companies expand their cloud budgets and move ahead with deployments, it is critical that vendors address security concerns and demonstrate true strategic partnership through unique peer reference and ROI in order to be a key player in an increasingly competitive market. Messaging that establishes your company as a leader in these key areas is crucial to securing your place in the cloud.