SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwired - Jun 24, 2014) - 2nd Watch, a provider of cloud deployment, management and monitoring services, announces the results of its survey of more than 400 IT professionals on cloud infrastructure buying trends. The survey, delivered online over the past two weeks, focused on cloud purchasing behaviors, goals and attitudes, and scored participants based on the answers into one of three buying categories: Calculated, Market-Driven and All-In.
Nearly 42% scored as Calculated buyers, defined as companies that are just dipping their toes in the proverbial cloud water by testing one or two applications. The next highest scoring category was All-In at 32%, defined as buyers who are interested in moving their entire data center/application infrastructure to the cloud. Market-Driven companies, that are moving all "edge" or customer-facing applications to the cloud, made up 16% of the responses. The remaining 10% split their responses evenly among two categories.
"The results are a telling barometer on the state of cloud maturity, as nearly half of companies have moved beyond the cautious stage to pushing significant percentages of their applications and processes to the cloud," says Kris Bliesner, CEO at 2nd Watch. "The survey also shows that goals for the cloud are fairly split between cost-saving measures and the desire to be more agile in the market."
Saving money and avoiding in-house management of technology was the top goal for moving to the cloud, as stated by 36% of participants. Application-specific goals comprise 33% of responses and 29% said they use the cloud to quickly respond to new opportunities. A large percentage of individuals, 64%, say that the cloud will help drive business and/or customer-related innovations at their company.
Additional survey highlights:
Cloud adoption: Nearly 30% say that their company is almost or already 100% running in the cloud and that cloud infrastructure will continue to grow at their companies in the future. Meanwhile, 43% they aren't sure about future use of the cloud and 26% say that their company will grow cloud computing but maintain a hybrid infrastructure for a long time.
Selection criteria: When choosing a cloud infrastructure provider, 37% say they look at both cost and comprehensive services; 32% compare cost and performance metrics and 30% say that name-brand market leaders are the way to go to ensure a reliable, fast user experience.
Influencers: 47% said that the IT director has the most buying influence on cloud strategy, whereas 28% pointed to business unit leaders and 24% said sales and marketing were top influencers.