Research: 2012 State of Cloud Computing
The Cloud You Didn't Know You Had
(also see our cloud ROI Modeler)
Next time that annoying guy starts going on about how "the cloud is going to change everything," smack him upside the head. "Everything" has already changed, say the 511 business IT professionals, all from companies with 50 or more employees, responding to our InformationWeek 2012 State of Cloud Computing Survey. Adoption of public cloud services has been on a consistent upward pace for the past four years, since we began keeping track. One-third of 2012 respondents' organizations are already receiving services from a cloud provider, and an additional 40% are in the planning or evaluation stages. Just 27% say they won't consider it. In our 2008 cloud survey, people couldn't even agree on a definition--21% of 456 respondents from companies of all sizes said cloud was "pretty much a marketing term used haphazardly."
OK, so not everything has changed.
Still, frustration with vendor hype aside, all types of public cloud services are gaining followers. So IT's got this down, right? Not so fast. We're seeing major gaps in how organizations are selecting, integrating and monitoring the services their employees depend on. The bulk of cloud initiatives come from the ground up and are reactive, in response to line-of-business requirements. IT rarely has an overarching vision of how it all fits together.
We expect the march to the public cloud to continue unabated, spurred by the siren song of lower costs, quicker implementation, and even less need for internal IT. Should we just fall in line and accept the inevitable?
Not so fast. Cloud computing is still very much a work in progress, wedged somewhere between CB radios and penicillin on the worldwide-usefulness scale. Providers' offers of lower initial cost and faster ramp up have lulled many organizations into a sloppy start, but you can get back on track. In this report, we'll lay out the critical steps every organization needs to take to make sure its cloud leap goes on more than just faith. (R4020212)
Survey Name InformationWeek 2012 State of Cloud Computing Survey
Survey Date December 2011
Region North America
Number of Respondents 511 at organizations with 50 or more employees
Purpose To determine in the role of cloud computing in the enterprise
Methodology InformationWeek surveyed business technology decision-makers at North American companies with 50 or more employees. The survey was conducted online, and respondents were recruited via an email invitation containing an embedded link to the survey. The email invitation was sent to qualified InformationWeek subscribers.
Table of Contents
3 Author's Bio
4 Executive Summary
6 Research Synopsis
7 The Cloud You Didn’t Know You Had
9 The Reality of SLAs
10 Impact Assessment
11 How to Make Cloud Soup
13 A Healthy Helping of Worry
15 Can You Go All In?
15 Three Points on a Path
18 The Big Leap
19 Appendix
29 Related Reports
Figures
7 Figure 1: Identifying Cloud Impact on Internet-Facing Architecture
8 Figure 2: Monitoring Cloud-Based App Performance
9 Figure 3: Cloud SLAs
11 Figure 4: Number of Cloud Providers Used
12 Figure 5: Integrating Cloud Applications
13 Figure 6: Cloud Provider Preference
14 Figure 7: Cloud Services Concerns
15 Figure 8: Weighing the Risk
16 Figure 9: Future Degree of Cloud Use
17 Figure 10: Use of Cloud Computing Services
19 Figure 11: Cloud Providers in Use
20 Figure 12: Planned Cloud Provider Use
21 Figure 13: Replace or Fire a Cloud Provider?
22 Figure 14: Greatest Performance Inhibitor
23 Figure 15: Cloud-Based App Performance
24 Figure 16: Change in Performance
25 Figure 17: Job Title
26 Figure 18: Company Revenue
27 Figure 19: Industry
28 Figure 20: Company Size
About the Author
Mike Healey is the president of Yeoman Technology Group, an engineering and research firm focusing on maximizing technology investments for organizations, and an InformationWeek Reports contributor. He has more than 23 years experience in technology and software integration.
Prior to founding Yeoman, Mike served as the CTO of national network integrator GreenPages. He joined GreenPages as part of the acquisition of TENCorp, where he served as president for 14 years. Prior to founding TENCorp, Mike was an international project manager for Nixdorf Computer and a Notes consultant for Sandpoint Corp.
Mike has taught courses at MIT Lowell Institute and Northeastern University and has served on the Educational Board of Advisers for several schools and universities throughout New England. He has a BA in operations management from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and an MBA from Babson College.
He is a regular contributor for InformationWeek, focusing on the business challenges related to implementing technology. His work includes analysis of the SaaS market, green IT and operational readiness related to virtualized environments.
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 Thank you for sharingComment by ANON1242171312907 Feb-06,2012 11:26:35 AMI've started reading the full report. Thank you for doing this important research and sharing with the industry!Reply |
