Survey: 88 Percent of Cloud Users Witness Cost Savings
Of the 88 percent of participants who said using the cloud is helping save money, 62 percent are reinvesting these savings back into the business to do things like increase headcount, boost wages and drive product innovation.
“The study shows just what an important impact cloud computing is having on UK and US businesses,” John Engates, Chief Technology Officer, Rackspace, said. “It’s particularly interesting that, despite the ongoing economic backdrop, half of businesses on both sides of ‘the pond’ are actually increasing profits and growing their business through use of the cloud. This includes investing in headcount and wages as well as driving further innovation.”
The study of 1,300 organizations in the UK and U.S. was conducted by Rackspace Hosting with support from Manchester Business School and Vanson Bourne.
Other findings included:
- 68 percent of respondents believe the use of open source cloud is increasing
- 49 percent of cloud users have been able to grow their business
- 60 per cent say that cloud computing has reduced the need for their IT team to maintain infrastructure, giving them more time to focus on strategy and innovation
The research also indicated that, at 70 percent, the U.S. is leading the way in the deployment compared to the UK at 42 percent. Open source cloud is proving beneficial for startups as a massive 90 percent of businesses that have started in the last three years say the cloud has made it easier to set up their business.
“Cloud computing is heralding a boon for startups at a time when they are most needed. By making high end computing resources available on flexible payment terms at the push of a button we are significantly reducing the level of investment required to set up shop,” Dr. Brian Nicholson at Manchester Business School said “It has arguably never been easier to start a business and much of that is down to the flexibility of cloud computing.”