Cloud computing is poised to reshape and disrupt the way organizations use information technology, right? Ultimately, yes -- but a new industry survey says it may be a few years before the disruptive effect of cloud is fully felt across the business landscape.
These are part of the conclusions of a new survey of 252 cloud users, providers, consultants and integrators jointly conducted by the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) and ISACA, an IT certification group. The survey finds the cloud market has not yet reached a level of maturity that will support major industry disruptions. "Instead, the survey participants believe that platform and infrastructure service offerings are still in the infancy stage of maturity, while software service offerings are just emerging from infancy and are in the early stages of market growth. The respondents estimate that it will take approximately three years for cloud platform and infrastructure services to be firmly placed within the growth stage, and at least two years for software services to reach that stage."
What's holding back cloud computing from reaching its full potential? Survey respondents say that viewing cloud purely as a technology rather than as a business issue constrains cloud market maturity. The study reveals while technology executives understand the value and potential risks of cloud, "board and executive management do not have a realistic understanding of cloud computing benefits or risk." Nearly all respondents feel that cloud computing is far from reaching maturity, with only software as a service (SaaS) cautiously placed at the earliest state of growth level, with infrastructure and platform services still considered in the infancy stages. Satisfaction is also highest with SaaS arrangements:
Satisfaction Levels of Various Cloud Components (Percent rating satisfaction as "4" or "5" on a scale of 1 to 5):
- Software as a Service (applications) 63%
- Infrastructure as a Service (compute power) 55%
- Platform as a Service (middleware) 43%
Estimated Length of Time for Markets and Growth to Meet Maturity Levels (Averages):
- Software as a Service 2.73 years
- Infrastructure as a Service 3.02 years
- Platform as a Service 3.34 years
Respondents also cited a number of issues with cloud engagements that may also hold back progress. Such issues include difficult y in monitoring business performance, and properly specifying business and technical risk within service contracts. "For cloud to provide enterprise-changing capabilities and the benefits that vendors have promised, it needs to transition from a technology solution to a business resource," the study's authors state. This "entails understanding what cloud is and what it promises, incorporating business and technical requirements into contracts, monitoring performance against requirements, and appreciating cloud-related risk within the wider context of the business and enterprise risk management."
Plus, it's about the data -- where it ends up, and who's responsible. The survey identified data security and data ownership as the two leading issues that hold back cloud adoption. Legal and compliance issues also top the list:
Leading Constraints on Cloud Adoption (Average score, based on a scale of 1 to 5):
- Information security (4.22)
- Data ownership/custodian responsibilities (4.12)
- Legal and contractual issues (4.04)
- Regulatory compliance (4.01)
- Information assurance (3.77)
- Longevity of suppliers (3.44)
- Contract lock-in (3.42)
- Performance standards (3.30)
- Disaster recovery/business continuity (3.25)
- Performance monitoring (3.21)
- Technology stability (3.10)
Overall, respondents feel there is room for improvement when it comes to innovation in the cloud. Nearly one in four (24%) managers indicate that there is no or limited levels of innovation in the market. Forty-three percent of respondents believe there is a moderate level of innovation, while 33% report that the level of innovation in terms of products, services and business use is significant.
In terms of advantages, participants cite factors such as cloud computing helping enterprises become more virtualized and distributed; reducing IT costs; and optimizing the use of IT resources in supporting business units, in particular by bringing new applications to market more quickly. They are less confident, however, that cloud is driving business innovation, increasing customer satisfaction, opening new markets and increasing revenues, the study's authors report.
Leading Drivers of Cloud Adoption (Average score, based on a scale of 1 to 5):
- Cost management (3.77)
- Agility (3.75)
- Time to market 3.73)
- Efficiency (3.65)
- Productivity (3.61)
- Business unit demand (3.55)
- Resilience (3.52)
- New technology (3.46)
- Customer demand (3.42)
- Technical resources( 3.37)
- New markets (3.33)
At the end of the day, the relative immaturity of the cloud computing space means everyone -- from enterprise CIOs and CEOs to vendors -- is still in a learning process. "To mature, cloud computing, like any new market offering, needs to be understood," the study's authors conclude. "The market needs to have a solid comprehension of what benefits are provided, what risk must be understood and addressed, and what basic concerns about the offering need to be mitigated." The biggest challenge right now, they state, is seeing cloud more from a business than a technical standpoint. "As these study results demonstrate, cloud computing is treated primarily as a technical innovation rather than as a business enabler, and its associated risk is addressed from a technical rather than operational, or enterprise, perspective." Senior management needs to be engaged.
