Cloud migration a 'key priority' for most businesses - research

Study also reveals that people will be put at heart of their company's digital transformation strategy

Cloud migration will be a priority investment area in the next year for 70 per cent of business leaders, according to the latest research from KCOM.

The systems integrator surveyed 250 C-level decision makers across a number of industries, including healthcare, government, and retail.

Almost half of respondents stated that their top priority in the next year will be fuelling digital transformation in order to give them a competitive edge.

For 68 per cent of those surveyed, implementation of cloud-native applications will be a key focus in the next 12 months, with 65 per cent of respondents intending to invest in improving identity management services.

The report also revealed that public and private organisations are putting people at the heart of their digital transformation drive, with 80 per cent stating that they would incentivise staff retention through training, accreditation and career development in order to fulfil their innovation strategy.

When it comes to delivering on those innovation strategies, 46 per cent of respondents embraced failure when it is recognised early enough to limit costs.

More than 72 per cent of business leaders defined a project as a failure if it came in over budget, while 45 per cent of those surveyed viewed failure as an inability to achieve the original designated outcome of the project.

Stephen Long, MD at KCOM Enterprise, said too many companies are held back from delving into innovative projects because of a fear of failure.

"It is positive to see that organisations are embracing cloud technology as the path to innovation, and they recognise some of the challenges holding them back," he stated.

"Innovation, by its very nature, involves pushing the boundaries of what is known and understood. Organisations must accept that failure plays an important role in doing this.

"Only by obeying Samuel Beckett's dictum to ‘try again. Fail again. Fail better' can companies truly unlock the value of the cloud and new ways of working.

"Fortune favours the bold, so companies need to prepare to fail, and build in a fast failure stage into all their innovation projects."