First study on use of cloud computing in Irish nonprofit sector

The research, which is part of a global study, The Cloud, was led by Enclude, an independent nonprofit IT consultancy and a network partner of San Francisco-based nonprofit TechSoup Global that provides technology assistance to nonprofit organisations.

The research found that while 25% plan to move their IT to the cloud within the next year. However, over a third have no plans to do so. A further 59% said the cost of IT activities is biggest challenge facing their organisation’s IT operations; 83% said they are using at least one cloud computing application, with e-mail cited as the most prominent cloud service; 40% said they use cloud computing to deliver back office services, with data backup, storage and sync cited as the most prominent use; and 38% said that file storage and sharing was the application that their organisation was most likely to adopt from the cloud.Irish respondents were significantly more likely than both regional and global respondents to indicate that cost savings, reduced system administration and better data security were a major advantage of cloud computing.Eamon Stack, CEO of Enclude, said: “It’s very significant that the organisations reported that the cost of IT was the biggest challenge to their IT activities, while they see cost saving as a major advantage to using the cloud. Cloud computing is the next frontier for the sector, and we hope that the survey results will help organisations make more informed IT decisions and drive the rate of cloud adoption with the confidence that NGOs worldwide are embracing these transformative technologies.”The insights from the research will help us work with our technology donor partners and with TechSoup to provide organisations in our sector with the technology resources needed to deliver greater impact.”