AUSTRALIAN ENTERPRISES INCREASINGLY BYPASSED ON CLOUD ADOPTION

SYDNEY – June 7, 2011 – Avanade, a business technology services provider, today released findings which reveal that the rapid growth in public cloud services is causing growing pains for many organisations. One in four executives says it’s impossible to manage the disparate cloud services within their organisation, while another 73 percent are worried about cloud sprawl. Despite these challenges, the survey shows cloud computing is maturing in the enterprise.

“As is true with many forms of technology innovation, consumer technology has a way of secretly creeping into the enterprise and leaving IT in the dark,” said Jeyan Jeevaratnam, Country Manager, Avanade Australia. “Today, public cloud services are no different. The barrier to entry for many cloud capabilities continues to lower and our research shows some are so easy to use, they are outpacing IT’s ability to manage and control them.”

One in four respondents says they have personally purchased a cloud service such as online collaboration, document sharing and calendar sharing, without the IT department’s knowledge. While 50 percent of companies report they have policies in place that prohibit such actions, respondents say there are no real deterrents for purchasing cloud services by stealth. In fact, 29 percent report there are no ramifications whatsoever while another 48 percent say it is little more than a warning.

Despite these issues, Australian companies are clearly seeing benefits in moving to the cloud. In terms of overall cloud computing adoption, the survey found 71 percent of Australian companies are using some form of cloud services today – a 31 percent growth in adoption since Avanade’s September 2009 survey. Of those organisations that have yet to implement cloud, three-quarters say it’s on the horizon.

Companies are increasing investments to secure, manage and support cloud.

Executives report they are investing in security solutions as well as people to ensure successful cloud deployments. In fact, 50 percent say they are investing in training for new and current employees to increase expertise in cloud technologies.

Companies are looking to move business-critical applications to the cloud.

A key indicator of the acceptance and adoption of cloud computing in Australia, executives have moved and are looking to move key business-critical applications into the cloud. Among those who have adopted cloud applications, the top hosted applications are Email (31 percent), HR services (29 percent) and CRM (27 percent). In the next 2 years, companies are looking to move their BI (42 percent), ERP (42 percent) and Collaboration (36 percent) applications into a hosted environment.

“It is clear that companies are not taking an all-or-nothing approach when it comes to cloud adoption,” said Jeevaratnam. “The involvement of the C-suite in technology decision-making means a more business-driven approach to IT. As a result, their strategy for cloud adoption may be phased and include a combination of cloud and on-premise applications, dependent on business need.”

There is a growing adoption and preference for private cloud.

The survey also shows private cloud deployments are growing – especially where critical, differentiating internal operations and customer services are at stake. Today, 43 percent of companies report they utilise private clouds, while an additional 34 percent say they will begin to do so in the next six to 12 months.

Further, companies are moving beyond internal employee-facing cloud services to use them with external customers. Many companies report they are now using cloud computing to deliver new products and services to customers, while more than one in five C-level executives believe cloud computing will increase revenues.

The “Has Cloud Computing Matured?” survey was conducted by Kelton Research, an independent research firm, in March to April 2011, and surveyed C-level executives, IT decision makers and business unit leaders at top companies located in 18 countries across North America, South America, Europe and Asia Pacific.

For addition information or to download a copy of the executive summary, please visit http://www.avanade.com/cloud.

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About Avanade

Avanade provides business technology services that connect insight, innovation and expertise in Microsoft technologies to help customers realise results. Avanade’s services and solutions help improve performance, productivity and sales for organisations in all industries. The company applies Microsoft expertise from its global network of consultants, drawing on the right mix of onshore, offshore and nearshore skills, which together are designed to help deliver results faster, at lower cost and with less risk. Avanade, which is majority owned by Accenture, was founded in 2000 by Accenture and Microsoft Corporation and serves customers in more than 20 countries worldwide with more than 12,000 professionals. Additional information can be found at www.avanade.com.