CIOs view cloud computing as priority in 2011

A report by Gartner this week has says that the take-up of cloud services will happen much more quickly than many expected.

In its survey of CIOs across Europe, it says currently, three per cent of CIOs have the majority of IT running in the cloud or on SaaS technologies, but over the next four years CIOs expect this number to increase to 43 percent.
Rob Lovell, CEO at cloud computing services provider, ThinkGrid, reckons Gartner’s research supports what the firm is seeing on the ground. “Companies are asking themselves why they should continue with the status quo, making upfront capital expenditure investments and carrying all the risks associated with large scale IT implementations. Ultimately, the findings show that the cloud model has made its mark and is fundamentally changing the way we all access and pay for IT.”
However, Lovell warns that in the rush to take advantage of the cloud opportunity, big vendors will continue to send conflicting messages to their channel partners. ”It’s becoming more and more critical for resellers to take a stand right now and combine their experience with vendor neutral cloud platforms to create far more compelling cloud offerings for customers. Customers of all sizes need to have a broad cloud solution addressing all their IT requirements, not just those from a single vendor. It’s time for the channel to embrace the cloud and reap the benefits this service can bring,” he says.

Nathan Marke, CTO at IT services provider, 2e2 agrees, adding: “The challenge for most CIOs is now to establish which type of cloud computing model, whether it be a public, private or even a hybrid approach, best meets their business needs. They'll also then need to start thinking about how to manage their cloud services in a unified way.”