Mature cloud users are being driven more by business growth than cost reduction.
Cloud is seen as an enabler of business growth, but its value as a means to reduce costs and drive efficiency is typically heralded as its main benefit. However, the technology’s ability to be a driver of business growth is a more important factor for executives.
According to the IBM report, companies with a high maturity still view security, privacy and compliance as the key challenges to cloud adoption.
Despite these concerns, cloud is poised to become the dominant model for IT service and delivery, with executives predicting that 60% or more of tech services will be delivered via the cloud with three years.
The report showed that the high-cloud maturity organisations are more likely to view boosting customer demand and expanding sales channels as drivers to cloud adoption. Cloud use is also more likely to lead to achieving revenue growth.
The survey assessed organisations’ progress in achieving the five fundamentals of cloud maturity, including an aligned strategy, organisational harmony, digital culture, dynamic infrastructure and good governance.
Pete Swabey, senior editor at The Economist Intelligent Unit who wrote the report, said: "This research reveals that there is still work to be done by IT departments in educating their peers in other divisions about the risks and realities of cloud."
Low cloud-maturity organisations remain more focused on cost reduction and efficiency.
The survey asked 784 executive globally.
