Clouds descend on IT industry

Cisco poll suggests four times as many applications are hosted in the cloud now compared to a year ago

Cloud computing now plays a role in 90 per cent of organisations, an increase from just 52 per cent of companies in 2011, according to figures from vendor Cisco.

The study, which was carried out by independent research agency Loudhouse, surveyed 250 IT decision makers in large UK companies across the five key verticals of government, retail, healthcare, finance and service providers.

According to the survey, four times as many applications are hosted in the cloud than a year previously, an increase from just seven per cent in 2011 to 2012's figure of 31 per cent.

The most beneficial areas of using cloud computing over in-house IT or managed service providers include reducing costs and easier maintenance, respondents said.

Whereas on the whole, 70 per cent of companies say that cloud has met or exceeded their expectations, security is still a considerable drawback. Some 85 per cent of respondents answered that security concerns publicised in the media are "justified and well founded".

Ian Foddering, chief technology officer at Cisco in the UK and Ireland, said that despite some drawbacks, cloud computing is no longer just hype.

"Cloud usage has now gone mainstream. After several years of hype across the IT industry, it now seems that cloud is maturing and organisations across a broad range of sectors are realising the benefits of moving to a cloud model," he added.