Thirty nine percent of small and midsize businesses (SMBs) are expected to pay for one or more cloud services within three years, according to a new report by Microsoft.
The report, "SMB Cloud Adoption Study 2011", revealed that the number of cloud services SMBs pay for will nearly double in most countries over the next three years. Hosting service providers are expected to benefit by offering cloud-services including: collaboration, data storage, backup, and business-class email.
The report revealed that those SMBs paying for cloud services will be using 3.3 services, up from fewer than two services today; and past experience with support from a service provider is a key driver of service provider selection among SMBs.
SMBs (82%) said that buying cloud services from a provider with local presence is critical or important; and the larger the business, the more likely it is to pay for cloud services.
Further, the report said that within three years, 43% of workloads will become paid cloud services, but 28% will remain on-premises, and 29% will be free or bundled with other services.
In addition, the study showed little difference in adoption rates between SMBs that expect to grow in the next three years (42%) and those solely focused on profitability (40%).
Microsoft worldwide communications sector business channels vice-president Marco Limena said as cloud computing becomes more ubiquitous and SMBs’ existing IT becomes outdated, adoption will grow rapidly.
"Hosting service providers should consider the appropriate sales, delivery and support models to target larger SMB customers that are more likely to pay for cloud services," Limena said.
