The findings of a survey by document management software company, Version One, has revealed that 41 percent of senior IT professionals admit that they ‘don’t know’ what cloud computing is. Version One carried out the research across a range of UK public and private sector organizations.

This research follows-on from a similar survey carried-out by Version One which highlights that two-thirds of UK senior finance professionals (finance directors and managers) are confused about cloud computing.

Of the remaining 59 percent of IT professionals who profess to know what cloud computing is, 17 percent of these understand cloud computing to be Internet-based computing while 11 percent believe it is a combination of Internet-based computing, software as a service (SAAS), software on demand, an outsourced or managed service and a hosted software service. The remaining respondents understand cloud computing to be a mixture of the above.

Despite cloud computing being in the media spotlight, only a minority of respondents (5 percent) say that they use it ‘a lot’ and less than a quarter of those surveyed (19 percent) reveal that they only use cloud computing sparingly. Almost half of respondents (47 percent) admit that their company doesn’t use cloud computing with the remaining 29 percent conceding that they ‘don’t know’ whether their organization uses it or not.

Julian Buck, general manager of Version One, says, “It is clear from the survey results that there are a number of contrasting views as to what cloud computing really is, which is hardly surprising in light of the many different cloud computing definitions in the public arena. For instance, Wikipedia defines it as ‘Internet-based computing’ while Gartner refers to it ‘as a service’ using Internet technologies. IT expert, John Willis, writing in his cloud blog says that ‘virtualisation is the secret sauce of a cloud’ and provides different levels of cloud computing. With so many definitions circulating, clarity is urgently needed.”

Only 2 percent of respondents say that their company is ‘definitely’ going to invest in cloud computing within the next twelve months whilst 30 percent state that their organizations ‘may’ invest in this technology. 45 percent admit that they ‘don’t know’ whether their organizations will be investing in it or not with the remaining 23 percent stating that they currently have no investment plans.

Buck adds, “If organizations are going to embrace cloud computing in the future it’s essential that a single, simplified explanation is adopted by everyone. Failure to cut through the confusion could result in organizations rejecting this technology and missing out on the benefits it provides.”

www.versionone.co.uk

•Date: 25th June 2009• Region: UK •Type: Article •Topic: IT continuity
Rate this article or make a comment - click here