SMEs wary of cloud network management

In the dark: Just 10 per cent of UK SME executives fully understand what cloud computing is

Esoteric industry jargon, coupled with concerns over connectivity, is keeping SMEs out of the cloud, with many sticking to an on-premise model for networking applications.

The SME Technology Report from network security player GFI Software revealed just 10 per cent of executives at UK SMEs understand what cloud computing is.
Knowledge of hosted and managed services is much greater. In each case, close to 90 per cent of executives have at least some understanding of these concepts.

The report, which is based on Redshift Research data, said: “Given that these terms are practically synonymous, is there too much emphasis on jargon, and not enough on the basic components of cloud-based services?”

Network management is the service SMEs are most wary of outsourcing, with just 21 per cent believing it is ideally suited for deployment as a managed service.

GFI chief executive Walter Scott said cost remains a barrier to SME cloud adoption, as does reseller ambivalence.

“The channel is not behind cloud as much as other ser­vices, such as software-as-a-service,” he explained.