The findings of a recent study conducted by IT firm IBM suggest that the cloud is set for continued growth in the business sector.
The study, which polled more than 3,000 CIOs worldwide, found that approximately 60 percent of organizations consider themselves ready to deploy cloud computing over the next five years, in order to achieve a competitive advantage and grow their businesses.
That figure may indicate increased confidence in cloud computing security, as it demonstrates significant growth in the number of CIOs that intend to migrate their companies' IT services to the cloud.
According to IBM, a similar study conducted in 2009 found approximately half the number of CIOs said they intend to adopt cloud computing.
Jeanette Horan, vice president and chief information officer for IBM, said the growth of the cloud is making CIOs increasingly important players in many organizations. "As technology becomes both an enabler of competitive advantage and embedded in every facet of the enterprise, the role of the CIO has never been more essential," Horan said.
"This study provides key evidence of how the capabilities of IT are aligning perfectly with the aspirations of business leaders," she added. "The winners will be those companies that understand the power of technologies like cloud, analytics and mobility and can harness that power to transform their businesses."
The study's findings indicated that enthusiasm for cloud computing is highest in certain regions. Approximately 70 percent of CIOs in the United States, Japan and South Korea and 68 percent of CIOs in China said they view cloud computing as a top priority, according to the study. This represents a dramatic increase over 2009, when approximately one-third of CIOs in each of these regions expressed intention to adopt cloud computing.
The increase in cloud deployment may be related to greater trust in cloud computing security. According to a recent Simply Business report, the cloud is now more secure than it ever has been.
