The growing demand for flexibility and scalability in business architecture has lent momentum to the cloud computing market in Brazil. Since cloud computing is not an entirely new technology, IT infrastructure availability is the number one market driver.
Companies themselves are looking to improve their infrastructure capabilities by reducing capital expenditure and increasing operational spending. Moreover, based on an extensive survey of companies on their future plans for cloud computing adoption, Frost & Sullivan has determined that trends such as bring your own device, mobility and big data will prompt investments in cloud computing.
A more detailed description of these results can be found in the newly-launched Cloud Computing End-user Analysis–Brazil research from Frost & Sullivan. This customer research, part of the IT Services (http://www.ITservices.frost.com) Growth Partnership Service program, aims to understand the maturity of Brazilian companies in terms of their knowledge and adoption of public, private and hybrid cloud computing solutions for infrastructure as a service (IaaS), software as a service (SaaS), and platform as a service (PaaS).
The study finds that in 2012 only 23.1 percent of the companies interviewed had implemented or were in the process of implementing a cloud solution, while 38.1 percent had yet not adopted any solution related to cloud computing. The good news for the Brazilian market is that 23.1 percent were studying the concept and 15.7 percent had executed pilot projects. In addition, 50.0 percent of the companies were planning for 2013 to increase their budget dedicated for cloud computing solutions in more than 10 percent, indicating that uptake in the country is growing and will continue to do so.
The rise in adoption is due to the flexible and scalable infrastructure offered by cloud solutions, which enables enterprises to modify their IT infrastructure for specific needs. In 2013, 29.3 percent of the businesses interviewed are intended to have more than 30 percent of its infrastructure in the cloud. This migration is mainly due to the emergence of new technologies coupled with the increasing costs and complexities of IT management. Additionally, with companies needing to pay only for what they use, these solutions are becoming popular among small and medium businesses.
In fact, the market in Brazil is driven by cost reduction rather than innovation. IT executives choose providers based on how much money their solution would save, and analyze business capabilities only as the next step.
“When it comes to finding a cloud computing partner, customers give priority to data center-focused organizations and global IT businesses that offer cost-effective technological expertise,” said Frost & Sullivan Information and Communication Technologies Industry Analyst Bruno Tasco. “Telecom companies are also making an entrance in the market, adapting their portfolio to provide compelling cloud solutions.”
However, a majority of the respondents stated their apprehensions regarding the reliability of the public cloud in particular, highlighting one of the key restraints stalling the growth of the cloud computing market in Brazil — security. Connectivity is another challenge, since companies will need to access information in the cloud anywhere, anytime and from any device. Some verticals like banking have opted to keep most of the infrastructure internal so they can guarantee availability.
“To enable customers to fully understand the benefits of the technology, software providers can offer pilot projects for simpler applications like email before moving to more critical functions,” observed Tasco. “Providing service-level agreements and a strong market reference will also be important to establish a robust relationship with end users.”
If you are interested in more information on this research, please send an e-mail to Francesca Valente, Corporate Communications, at francesca.valente@frost.com, with your full name, company name, job title, telephone number, company e-mail address, company website, city, state and country.
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