Small firms are still reluctant when it comes to adopting the cloud

The Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) has recently carried out a study looking at organisations’ use of the cloud. 250 UK-based companies were surveyed, and some interesting results were revealed.

The study found that, in general, UK organisations are becoming increasingly satisfied with cloud-based computing services. 61% of participants, for example, currently use the cloud, which is up from 34% in January 2011.

The chairman of CIF, Andy Burton, said the results show that UK businesses are enthusiastic about making the move. There has been considerable growth in the public sector for cloud adoption, which was expected given the government’s recent push towards cloud services. Cloud adoption in the private and public sector, for example, is now much the same, at 61% and 62% respectively.

Interestingly, the survey also found that one in four of the companies that are not currently using the cloud are planning to do so. 34% of public sector organisations and 30% of SMBs said they intend to take to the cloud in the next 12 months. Data backup, email and data storage services are most likely to benefit from increased usage.

It’s clear that the advantages are being recognised. 58% of respondents said they were attracted by the low cost of cloud services, whilst 71% said their main reason for adopting the cloud is the flexible model of delivery.

However, only 52% of small companies with fewer than 20 employees have adopted cloud-based services, compared with 68% of larger organisations. This suggests that more needs to be done to encourage smaller companies to reap the benefits. One would have thought that small businesses would jump at the chance to save money by using online solutions, but it’s clear that many are still reluctant.