UK based IT support company Flair4IT has completed a second piece of research into the cloud. They had previously found that companies expected the cloud to help them achieve significant growth, and they have now completed further studies to show what the future will likely hold by 2020. It seems that the cloud will not just continue to grow, but transform the way businesses operate as well.
The fact that the Cloud is huge is no secret. It also isn’t the ‘next big thing’ anymore, as it is here, right now. Through cloud computing, people are able to store programs and files on the internet, instead of having to use a physical hard drive or other devices. Essentially, the term describes the services that can be accessed by going online.
UK-based IT support company www.Flair4IT.co.uk has been providing cloud support to their clients for some time. They have made predictions in the past in terms of what the cloud will do over the next few years, all of which have come true. These predictions were all based on significant research amongst their clients and beyond. They found that 55% of businesses would enable the formation of new business models by 2016, which was demonstrated to be correct.
However, they also found that many businesses have started to invest heavily in cloud technologies, as they aim to make the transition to full cloud technology. This means that things developed quicker than even Flair4IT had anticipated. Through research, they found that company provide platforms and applications to analyze and manage data, launch new business models, and streamline supply chains all through the cloud.
Considering this, Flair4IT engaged in a second study in order to generate some key points about cloud computing and its future. What they found was:
- The three areas in which businesses believe the cloud will have the greatest impact by 2020 are supply chain, employee collaboration, and top line growth.
- The development of new lines of businesses, products, and services, and the ability to access new markets are the main things in which enterprises are being transformed by the cloud.
- 58% of businesses expect that their top line revenue will have increased by 2020 thanks to the cloud.
- 67% of businesses state that their supply chain, purchasing, and marketing efforts are already partially or fully based on the cloud.
Cloud automation is becoming increasingly efficient and it is showing no signs of stopping. The inevitable result of this is that firms and humans interact with each much less nowadays. The positive point of this is that there can be a stronger focus on strategic planning.
A representative from Flair4IT, responsible for the research, stated that:
“We see that companies who are able to properly orchestrate a transition to the cloud are much better equipped to improve the work of their IT department, while at the same time lower their expenditures in this field. Because this is now a known fact, a lot of businesses are looking at how they can best attain these benefits themselves. While most enterprises know that the cloud is the present, and not just the future, many do still struggle to actually implement it properly, although we are seeing significant improvements.”
“Meanwhile, we believe that the cloud will continue with its rapid evolution. Demand will also continue to increase, with more and more businesses making that transition. We believe that, by 2002, the vast majority of businesses will at least in some way be reliant on the cloud. We feel this is a positive development that could potentially change the world of business for the better.”
