In the course of a few years, the term “cloud computing” has become a part of the everyday language of business in the UK. Cloud hosting and virtualisation were among the top priorities of CIOs in 2011, and it is anticipated that this will remain true for 2012 as well.
According to John Thornhill, the CEO of BT Engage, “companies are now using these technologies in earnest”. Mr Thornhill pointed to productivity gains, cost savings and improved customer service as benefits experienced by companies that had adopted cloud and virtualisation technologies.
The independent research firm Vanson Bourn was retained by BT Engage to conduct an independent study of the benefits of cloud computing and virtualization for UK companies. The results did, in fact, support Mr. Thornton’s claims and indicated that 70% of all CIOs surveyed felt that “cloud computing and virtualization technologies had the biggest positive impact on business in 2011.”
In contrast to the positive views of virtualization and cloud computing, the study also indicated that only 13% of all CIOs viewed mobile devices as having a beneficial impact on business.