Matthew Weinberger

December 6, 2011

2 Min Read
CSC Cloud Study Finds Some Cloud Cost Savings Exaggerated

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A study commissioned by IT solution provider CSC and conducted by TNS has found that much of the conventional cloud wisdom may be flawed, as enterprises find the real value of cloud computing is in multi-device access, not the lower TCO. In fact, 33 percent of the study’s 3,645 IT decision-makers polled listed that anytime, anywhere aspect as the No. 1 best thing about the cloud.

If you’re into infoporn, CSC’s press release and infographic bring the goods. But here are some of the key findings that caught my eye, as per that release:

  • 82 percent of all organizations saved money on their last cloud adoption project.

  • 23 percent of U.S. organizations and 45 percent of U.S. small businesses (fewer than 50 employees) reported no savings while 35 percent of U.S. organizations saved less than $20,000.

  • Brazilian organizations reaped the most cost benefit with 92 percent saving money, while 70 percent of Australian organizations saved money.

  • 65 percent of companies choose cloud subscriptions lasting one year or more

  • 25 percent of organizations expressed more concern about data security after adopting cloud services.

  • 74 percent of small businesses say that no one in their company resisted the move to the cloud.

  • 52 percent reported increased data center efficiency and utilization, while 47 percent of companies said they witnessed lower operating costs after cloud adoption.

In other words, customers want the cloud, and many of the things that have always been assumed to be part of the cloud’s value proposition — security, workforce resistance — may not be a real part of the equation in most customer cases. Of course, as a solution provider and Google partner itself, I kind of have to take CSC’s findings with a grain of salt (was anyone expecting them to report that customers are terrified of the cloud?).

But it’s definitely food for thought for your humble correspondent — and it should be on your mind, too.

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