Just as channel firms are finding new models of operations within a cloud paradigm, end-user businesses are moving through a series of changes that lead from early experiments to a fully transformed approach to IT. With 90 percent of businesses claiming some form of cloud usage, adoption ranges from those late entrants just starting to test the waters to early adopters who have moved full-production systems or even business-critical applications into the cloud. Beyond born-in-the-cloud companies, few organizations have taken the final steps of re-architecting applications or workflow around cloud infrastructure, but the model exists for those companies seeking the maximum benefits.
Such a re-architecting involves considerable investment, which explains why even early adopters may take their time with such a move. Another reason is that they are reaping benefits from their current cloud configurations. In fact, the longer companies spend in the cloud, the more benefit they realize. Among companies who list cloud as a better IT option for a wide variety of reasons, early adopters outpace later adopters nearly two-to-one.
Along with deeper benefits, early adopters are discovering deeper complexity in using cloud for day-to-day operations. After initial cloud transitions where integration is a top challenge, companies with more experience are seeing changes to IT policy become their primary concern. These changes could involve the way that technology is procured throughout the organization or the functions within the IT department as they interact with lines of business, both of which are steps towards a fully cloud-enabled business.
Another level of complexity is apparent in the way that companies are moving between systems. Sixty percent of companies have made some sort of secondary move after their initial migration, shifting infrastructure or applications between public clouds, into a private cloud, or back into an on-premise system. Finding the optimal mix and managing the range of solutions are the types of disciplines that early adopters are perfecting as they progress in their cloud usage.
There are still many problems to solve as cloud computing enters an adolescent stage. Discussions are becoming broader as later entrants continue to seek out basic information and leading edge companies explore new territory. Ultimately, the discussion will tend more towards business processes and services enabled by the cloud and the structural parts of cloud computing will fade into the background.
For more information on the latest trends in this space, CompTIA members can access the Fourth Annual Trends in Cloud Computing report. If you are interested in becoming a CompTIA member to access this research along with a full range of education, community discussions and other member benefits, please contact our membership team.
