Newsbyte: SAP and Wakefield Research Survey: By Migrating to the Hybrid Cloud Environment, Over 70 Percent of CIOs Simplified Their IT Processes, Citing Increased Speed and Flexibility

WALLDORF, Germany, July 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Chief information officers (CIOs) are supporting change without disruption by joining the hybrid cloud revolution, and they're not looking back. According to a recent national survey conducted by Wakefield Research on behalf of SAP AG (NYSE: SAP), CIOs believe hybrid cloud environments, which integrate on-premise and cloud-based applications, reduce complexity and increase flexibility. Although the majority of respondents believe a hybrid approach simplifies IT processes, CIOs still report institutional barriers that need to be overcome in order for the integration of cloud and on-premise solutions to gain wider acceptance. SAP, which has one of the most comprehensive cloud portfolios on the market, is collaborating with CIOs to build cloud strategies that protect and leverage existing investments in on-premise applications while offering business flexibility.

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"Our rapid growth and need for flexibility led us to implement SAP Cloud for Travel while keeping our on-premise applications in place, creating a challenge for data management," said Tony Velleca, chief information officer of UST Global. "SAP enabled the seamless integration between our cloud and on-premise applications in order to maintain consistency of critical data while accelerating business processes."

Notable survey results include:

• Strong Support for Cloud and Hybrid Solutions
  • Nearly all respondents (87 percent) feel that cloud solutions are important to their business. A majority of CIOs (83 percent) assign similar importance to on-premise solutions, a finding that suggests a bright future for hybrid environments that integrate on-premise and cloud-based applications.
  • Most CIOs (67 percent) using cloud applications have already adopted some hybrid tools.
  • A vast majority (75 percent) of hybrid users feel their company's IT processes are less complex after migration.
• Migrating to Hybrid Cloud Services Increases Efficiency
  • CIOs have achieved efficient operations using cloud applications integrated with on-premise solutions, with 75 percent of hybrid users confirming that their company's IT processes are less complex after migration.
  • Integrations between on-premise and cloud applications are gaining steam, according to CIOs who noted that the hybrid approach allows employees who work off-site to access data.
• Internal Resistance and Security are Primary Barriers to Adoption
  • Institutional barriers are prominent for most (75 percent) of non-hybrid cloud CIOs.
  • Security is the top concern, with 52 percent of all CIOs saying on-premise solutions are more secure than cloud-based.

"The allure of the cloud means many organizations are adopting cloud-based applications that augment on-premises ERP and are increasingly moving core elements of ERP to the cloud," said Nigel Rayner, Gartner analyst. "CIOs and ERP leaders need to be prepared with an integration strategy that anticipates this world of hybrid ERP."*

About the Survey
The survey was conducted by Wakefield Research in April 2013, using in-depth telephone interviews to explore attitudes about the hybrid cloud. Among the U.S.-based 52 CIOs interviewed, 22 respondents were from Fortune 1000 companies and, 30 respondents were from companies in the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Companies in America.

Complete survey results are available here. To learn more, visit the Cloud Computing area of sap.com and the SuccessFactors website. For more information, visit the SAP Newsroom. Follow SAP on Twitter at @sapnews.

*Best Practices for Managing Integration in a Hybrid Cloud and On-Premises ERP World, Published: 12 June.

Media Contact:
Daniella Klopocki, +1 (650) 762 - 4410, [email protected], PDT

SOURCE SAP AG