South African SMEs are steadily moving to the cloud, and have a generally positive perception of government services.
This emerged from the SME Survey 2014, which tracks the perceptions and concerns of small business owners in SA.
According to Arthur Goldstuck, World Wide Worx MD and principal researcher of SME Survey 2014, the proportion of SMEs using the cloud is 27% overall, which is substantially up from 9% in 2012. This compared to 24% who were using social media as an online business service.
"What's surprising is not that one in four are using social media; but that three in four aren't. Given the hype around it, you might expect more to be using social media than the cloud - but it demonstrates once again that SMEs also need a clear value proposition before they invest in new services," he says.
Of those not yet using cloud, asked if they expect to take it up, just 2% gave a definite 'yes', but the potential usage was far higher: another 20% said it depended on business needs. A further 30% are unsure.
Goldstuck notes that if the business case can be clearly demonstrated to these potential users, adoption will move closer to 50%. There is a possibility that cloud adoption could double in the next 12 to 24 months. It is all about a clear and obvious value proposition.
Charles Lalieu, managing executive for public cloud at Business Connexion, says despite the benefits, cloud adoption by SMEs is far from a foregone conclusion.
"There is no doubt of the advantages and the cloud model is internationally proven. However, transitioning to cloud still requires a mindset change and in many instances, some guidance," he says.
The progression by SMEs to the cloud is accelerating and is likely to continue gaining momentum, concludes Lalieu.
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