Cost-cutting to drive UK cloud boom

Fears still remain over the security of cloud computing

The National Outsourcing Association (NAO) believes that enterprises will increasingly turn to cloud computing as they seek to lower costs.

The key period for cloud adoption will be 2010 to 2012, during which time investments in the technology will increase by an estimated 78 per cent, according to the NAO's UK Cloud Computing Adoption report.

The survey found that cloud penetration sits at a lowly three per cent, but will increase dramatically as enterprises seek lower costs and greater scalability.

Other factors will include the need to refresh or upgrade systems, and cloud computing's "fit" within a particular business area, but all respondents favoured a hybrid approach using a mixture of in-house and outsourced kit.

Some 98 per cent said that the cloud will have its 'greatest applicability' on the desktop.

However, some fears persist. Ninety two per cent of respondents are concerned about vendor lock-in, a factor that could yet hinder adoption, and roughly three quarters are worried about data security and backup issues.

"Cloud computing looks set to continue its march into UK businesses over the next few years," said Martyn Hart, chairman of the NOA.

"However, it appears there is still a long way to go before cloud becomes truly ubiquitous, as penetration is still fairly low. Being so new, users will need to ensure that they fully understand their options."