Cloud computing has been named as the most significant force of change last year by IT professionals polled as part of a study by technology magazine V3.
The publication quizzed this section of its readership about the trends and phenomena that had had a demonstrable impact on their companies during 2013.
Cloud computing easily dominated proceedings, with four-fifths of respondents saying it topped their list. Eight per cent said big data, five per cent said the PRISM scandal was number one and four per cent said the ‘bring your own device’ trend created the biggest impact during the past 12 months.
Only two per cent reported that the widely publicised decline of the PC in favour of more mobile devices was making waves within their organisation.
Within the cloud group, 78 per cent of the vote went to off-site services, which suggests many organisations are now looking to outsourcing for their cloud hosting services after learning of the many benefits it can provide.
It could also mean that the hesitance of smaller companies to take the plunge and move to the cloud is dissipating as they realise it is a safe and secure way of doing business.
The study follows on from research published last month by Barclays, which used statistics from the International Data Corporation and discovered that more and more firms will choose to carry out their day-to-day operations using the cloud this year, instead of having to spend large sums of money on new hardware and software.
Its report pointed out: “Cloud technologies allow for significant efficiencies through sharing of pooled resources.”
Meanwhile, the European Commission also lauded the phenomenon recently, saying it “puts the best IT solutions within the reach of small firms and organisations” and “will enable a particularly big leap forward for productivity in Europe”.
