Research sponsored by SunGard Availability Services, a provider of business continuity services, shows that despite fast adoption rates, only 10% UK CIOs feel ‘completely confident’ in the security and resilience of third party cloud services.
The research, conducted by Vanson Bourne among 250 UK CIOs, also revealed that a majority (68%) are only happy to move to the cloud data which is not deemed critical or sensitive.
Asked to name the types of application and data they would be least willing to move to the cloud, CIOs cited those involved in accounting, HR and payroll.
The research highlights how early bad experiences, with 66% of UK CIOs saying they had already experienced some downtime from apps hosted in the cloud.
The study found that cloud services have been adopted at a rapid rate, with 84% of CIOs surveyed having already moved some applications to the cloud; 82% having already moved some of their infrastructure into the cloud; and 43% of those surveyed also said they had plans to move at least half of their IT infrastructure to the cloud in the next 12 months.
CFOs are generally more wary of the cloud than their CIO colleagues, found the study, with 14% of CIOs saying they were not comfortable outsourcing any data compared to 23% of CFOs.
Furthermore, 42% of CIOs say that their CFOs have shown opposition or concerns about moving to the cloud.
SunGard Availability Services managing director UK and executive vice-president Europe Keith Tilley said it is clear from the research that while cloud adoption continues apace, CIOs are holding back from committing their most sensitive and important data to third party cloud providers.
Tilley said, "While the newer breed of cloud providers has focused on selling the benefits of cloud, of which there are clearly many, organisations are right to be asking the crucial questions about the security and availability of their data and infrastructure before they entrust it to a third party. Demonstrating a reputation for having security, resilience and availability baked in to solutions will be key to imbuing CIOs with the confidence to continue to move their more critical infrastructure and applications to the cloud."
Tilley concluded, "We absolutely understand that not all of an organisation’s data or infrastructure can or should be moved to the cloud, and that what works for one organisation may not work for another. The vast majority of CIOs we speak with are looking for a ‘hybrid’ approach to cloud, where they want providers to manage both their enterprise-class private cloud and their traditional applications and infrastructure."
