Research Shows Enterprises Can Use Expert Support In Cloud Implementations

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

Research shows strategic partners make managing cloud-based environments easier for enterprises.

Sungard Availability Services surveyed about 250 IT leaders from enterprise companies and found 59 percent face difficulties integrating initial cloud investments with new cloud services, 58 percent with implementing services from multiple vendors, and 57 percent with integrating cloud with legacy systems. Companies with a global footprint found these issues particularly challenging.

Organizations are transitioning to cloud computing for cost savings and agility, but the survey revealed after the initial cloud investment, 66 percent of the respondents’ organizations shifted one-third of their systems back to physical infrastructure, with 36 percent citing the complexity of operating their cloud applications as the reason for the shift. In addition, 73 percent of respondents said they spent more on managing the cloud implementation than predicted — this statistic is up 53 percent over last year and 50 percent over 2013.

Complexity can arise from having to manage multiple vendors. More than 88 percent of survey respondents said that they managed more than one cloud vendor, with nearly 18 percent saying they manage five.

The survey also revealed 98 percent of respondents reported that expert help improved the level of integration across their IT environment, while 78 percent of U.S. respondents stated that hiring support ensured their cloud implementation was a success.