APAC firms point to growing cloud relevance
More organizations in the Asia-Pacific region see cloud computing as relevant to their business, with 59 percent currently using or planning to adopt cloud services compared with 22 percent in 2009, according to a new report released Tuesday.
Conducted in September by Springboard Research and commissioned by virtualization vendor VMware, the study revealed that 83 percent of companies in the region regarded cloud as relevant to their business, more than double the number that thought likewise 18 months ago. This figure was highest in Japan where 92 percent of respondents perceived cloud as relevant. The survey polled 6,953 companies across seven markets in the Asia-pacific region, including Japan, Australia, China and India.
The study identified Japan and Australia as leading adopters of cloud services where 36 percent and 31 percent, respectively, were already deploying cloud-related initiatives. Asia's two giants, India and China, led in adoption plans where 43 percent and 39 percent, respectively, had plans to deploy cloud computing.
Some 23 percent of Singapore businesses had adopted cloud, while Malaysia and Thailand both chalked up 21 percent in terms of adoption. Thirty percent of Singapore respondents had plans to deploy cloud services compared with 39 percent in Malaysia and Thailand.
Across the region, 39 percent of larger companies--with over 10,000 employees--had adopted cloud compared with 20 percent of businesses with between 100 and 999 employees.
Most respondents in Japan (86 percent), Singapore (84 percent) and Thailand (74 percent) linked cloud primarily to IT-as-a-service, while the majority in Australia (80 percent), Malaysia (78 percent) and India (75 percent) saw cloud as a way to deliver applications on-demand. The bulk, 80 percent, in China saw cloud as a way to support on-demand storage and network needs.
Michael Barnes, vice president of software and Asia-Pacific research at Springboard, said in the report: "For most survey respondents in Asia-Pacific, IT-as-a-service is the biggest theme of the day. These companies are looking for vendors and consultants that can help them enjoy serviced-based IT, particularly in the areas of cloud infrastructure and management."
The survey also noted that 60 percent of businesses turned to cloud for on-demand scalability. Other drivers for cloud adoption included reduced hardware infrastructure costs and simplified resource and server provisioning.
Cost savings was the immediate incentive that 57 percent of respondents looked for in adopting cloud service, while 37 percent--most of which are large companies with over 10,000 employees--adopted or planned to adopt cloud as a long-term strategic investment.
Concerns over integration, security
Despite the growing enthusiasm for cloud services, companies remained concerned about security as well as integration. Some 46 percent of respondents highlighted both issues as barriers to cloud adoption.
Another key barrier was the lack of understanding about cloud computing, which was especially apparent in emerging markets such as China (44 percent), Malaysia (40 percent) and Thailand (40 percent), in comparison to the regional average of 36 percent.
Across the Asia-Pacific, 59 percent pointed to infrastructure virtualization as a primary component in cloud computing. Adoption of virtualization technology was highest in Australia at 87 percent and Japan at 82 percent, and highest among verticals such as insurance (82 percent) and banking and finance (76 percent).
Some 67 percent of Thai respondents had adopted virtualization, while 65 percent in Singapore and 65 percent in Malaysia did likewise. Across Asean, this number stood at 30 percent.