by Stephanie Overby

Finding a Way to the Cloud

Feature
Oct 20, 20081 min
InternetNetworking

Bechtel has bet its IT future on cloud—or on-demand—computing. But for many IT organizations, the concept remains pie-in-the-sky, according to our survey.

Not Yet Business-Critical

Less than half of IT organizations currently use on-demand resources for enterprise applications or infrastructure.

Currently using or implementing Plan to use in 1 to 5 years On the radar/ researching No plans
Collaboration tools 50% 15% 18% 18%
Enterprise applications (e.g. CRM, ERP, BI) 35% 12% 19% 34%
Application platforms/ development software 34% 9% 27% 31%
Utilities (e.g. antivirus spam filters, desktop management) 33% 14% 21% 32%
Servers 32% 11% 18% 39%
Storage 31% 16% 22% 30%
Networks 27% 12% 17% 45%
Personal productivity software 23% 13% 22% 43%

Big Changes for IT Someday

There’s potential for the cloud to transform IT. But technology and security must mature, first.

Cloud Computing… Agree Disagree Neither/Not Sure
Will cause a radical shift in IT 58% 24% 18%
Will take years to mature 54% 30% 16%
Current offerings are not appropriate for my business 36% 44% 20%
Vendors have not adequately addressed security concerns 60% 19% 20%

CIO.com visitors were invited to take the Cloud Computing Survey from Aug. 18-31, 2008. Survey findings are based on 173 responses from IT and business professionals. The margin of error is +/- 7.5%. Numbers may not equal 100% due to rounding.