Around 46 out of 100 JSE-listed local corporations have adopted some form of cloud computing, either as a product or a service.
This is according to the IP Expo Corporate Cloud Survey 2011, a new report by World Wide Worx, commissioned for the IP Expo technology trade show.
World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck said another 6% of corporations plan to introduce cloud computing next year, and a further 4% the year after; cloud computing is predicted to reach a 60% adoption rate by 2013.
The survey found that 80% of the companies using cloud computing said they were satisfied with the benefits achieved through accessing their services, applications and infrastructure in the cloud.
“While companies are starting to embrace the technology, there is definitely no herd mentality around cloud computing, which is a positive indicator,” indicated Goldstuck.
“Those who have adopted it have given it much thought and looked very carefully at how cloud computing can meet their needs. When a company takes that kind of considered approach, it is more likely to be satisfied with the results.”
According to Goldstuck, surveyed respondents hosting their applications in the cloud were divided into virtualisation (20%), software as a service (8%), and hosted mail (5%).
Goldstuck said a lack of standards, as well as security fears, are top challenges that discourage potential cloud computing adopters. He called for IT vendors such as Microsoft, VMware, Apple and IBM to devise clearer standards for the benefit of the whole industry.
“There needs to be more education around the benefits of cloud computing, and this education needs to come from the whole sector. Companies need to understand what cloud computing can do for the business, and the immediate business benefit needs to be clear,” he added.
Gregory Cline, MD of Intel southern Africa, explained that another big challenge was the physical versus virtual location of servers. “Certain governments don't want citizen data to be hosted outside of a country; for example Germany. The big question is, if you move data to public cloud services, how does the company or government enforce auditing of this data, and who takes responsibility over it?”
Lizelle Christison, manager for IP Expo, said the trends being seen in corporate SA were mirroring trends first seen by IP Expo's sister show in the UK. “We are mirroring the UK trends, although local adoption rates are lagging behind by two or three years.”
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