SAP has announced the results of a global survey conducted by Oxford Economics, which shows that cloud is now being more frequently used to innovate.
The survey shows that companies are increasingly shifting from using cloud just for productivity and efficiency to being more business specific for innovations in supply chain, talent management, collaboration and analytics.
Don Whittington, CIO of ASR Group, said: "The cloud is a very powerful model in which to operate. It is one that lets us eliminate rote work – such as matching orders and balancing books – and enable employees to become more analytical."
"They can use their time to look for ways to better the business."
Findings from the survey show that 99% believe that cloud computing is part of their company’s business strategy, with 69% of businesses expecting to make moderate to heavy cloud investments over the next three years.
It was found that 33% of respondents believe that the adoption of cloud computing has had a transformative impact on their business performance.
Additionally it was shown that the real-time use of big data is growing in strategic importance, with 59% saying that they use the cloud to better manage and analyse data. This represents a 10% increase from 2012.
Rob Glickman, vice president, SAP Cloud and Line of Business Marketing, said: "As we’ve long believed, the cloud is far more than a means to lower total cost of ownership; it’s a platform for doing business in entirely new ways."
"These survey findings confirm the trend. Early cloud adopters are now seeing strong returns on their initial investments, and they can feel satisfied that their strategy of embracing the cloud is now proving to be extremely beneficial to their business."
The survey asked 200 executives from around the world and compared the results with the same survey from 2012.
