InformationWeek Analytics New Research Finds Nearly 70% of Respondents Will Calculate the ROI of Cloud Computing

SAN FRANCISCO, June 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- InformationWeek Analytics, the leading service for peer-based IT research and analysis, today announced the release of its research report: Cloud ROI: Calculating Costs, Benefits, Returns, including exclusive analysis of the approach respondents' organizations use to quantify risks (such as project failure or budget overruns) as cash flow in an ROI analysis. Nearly 400 business technology professionals weighed in on how they weigh costs of outsourcing vs. on-premises delivery of IT services. The report author, Jonathan Feldman, is the director of IT for the City of Asheville, NC, and a longtime InformationWeek and Network Computing contributor.

Research Summary:

Think that sneaking feeling of irrelevance is just your imagination? Maybe, maybe not. Our InformationWeek Analytics Cloud ROI Survey gave a sense of how nearly 400 business technology professionals see the financial picture shaking out for public cloud services. One interesting finding: IT is more confident that business units will consult them on cloud decisions than our data suggests they should be.

Findings:  

• 34% of organizations report using SaaS now vs. 29% saying they are not using any cloud computing.
• The No. 1 cloud dissenter is the CIO, cited by 32%. Surprisingly, just 2% say the CISO is the loudest voice against the cloud.
• 45% say the ability to quickly roll out business technology is the top draw of the cloud.
• Business units are over three times as likely as IT (21% vs. 6%) to say that IT doesn't get involved in cloud initiatives.

For full access to the research data, download now:  http://analytics.informationweek.com/abstract/5/3155/Cloud-Computing/research-cloud-roi.html

"Our data shows that IT is more engaged in public cloud decisions than some pundits would suggest. That's the good news," says Lorna Garey, content director for InformationWeek Analytics. "The bad news is that we're being dazzled by CapEx savings and failing to do the three- to five-year calculations that business services demand."

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