Most organisations that adopt the cloud find it frees up staff to work elsewhere, a survey has shown.
The benefits of adopting the cloud are well documented – few potential users worry they won’t enjoy a substantial return on investment in the long run. Maintaining IT infrastructure in-house can be costly, whereas using a third-party provider means you’ll only pay for the storage capacity and computing power you’re using at any given time. Delivering software over the cloud makes it far easier for employees to work remotely, while physical space that might otherwise have been taken up by server racks can be used more effectively.
However, what are the implications of adopting the cloud in terms of your workforce? It’s fair to assume that some organisations will see outsourcing as an opportunity to make cutbacks. However, a recent report suggests that’s not always what happens.
According to the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF), the majority of British businesses that use the cloud choose to redeploy their IT workers on new, revenue-generating projects rather than cull staff members.
Computer Weekly reports that a survey of senior IT decision makers at 250 UK organisations, commissioned by CIF and carried out by Vanson Bourne, found that just one in ten firms reduced the size of their workforces after moving functions to the cloud.
This means that the remaining 90 per cent didn’t see outsourcing as an opportunity to make budget cuts – instead, they saw it as a way to free-up resources to put towards more obviously beneficial projects than managing IT infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the CIF study also shows that British businesses are warming to the cloud at a rapid pace. Some 69 per cent of respondents told Vanson Bourne their organisations had already adopted it in some form, while a further ten per cent said they intended to do so within 12 months.
To discuss how moving IT off-premises can benefit your business, consider getting in touch with Dajon Data Management. We offer a range of services, including cloud and enterprise solutions, to help you manage your electronic data in a way that’s secure and streamlined – freeing up IT staff to work on more exciting projects.