As a result of the ongoing digitalization, cloud services are rapidly increasing in popularity – but only one out of ten organizations can be regarded as cloud mature. On average, cloud mature companies have 34 percent lower costs of IT operations compared with competitors and more than twice the budget for innovation. Nevertheless, a majority of organizations still lack a workable strategy for cloud services, according to a new study from research company Radar and Tieto.
Cloud Maturity Index is a study from Tieto, based on a survey and interviews with 277 decision makers in the private and public sectors in Sweden, Finland and Norway. According to the study, cloud mature organizations are on average investing twice the proportion of the total IT budget on cloud services compared with other organizations. More than two out of three (69 percent) organizations are still at a basic level, lacking a clear definition of and a strategy for cloud services.
- The survey indicates that many organizations still use cloud services ineffectively to a large degree. Quite often, the actual use is not anchored to the joint business strategy but is rather driven by a short-term need to cut costs. Paradoxically, these organizations seem to be less successful with cutting costs than cloud mature organizations, where focus instead lies on innovation and business development, says Niraj Sood, Head of Business Development, Managed Services at Tieto.
Finland and Sweden leading in cloud maturity
Finland is the country which has progressed furthest when it comes to the use of cloud services. Finnish organizations have the highest operational maturity, with a bigger share of IT services in the cloud than Sweden and Norway. Finnish organizations are also using more types of cloud services in different areas. However, when it comes to strategic maturity, Sweden is in the lead. Meanwhile, Norwegian organizations utilize cloud services to a much lesser extent than its neighbors, with 43 percent lower operational cloud maturity than Finland. However, according to the study the Norwegians have the highest growth in usage of cloud services during the past year.
- Sweden and Finland have traditionally been at the forefront when it comes to buying IT services and utilizing the flexibility it offers. Norwegian organizations might not have had the same incentives or needs to streamline and find solutions that free up resources, says Niraj Sood.
According to the study, many organizations are still having concerns about the implementation of cloud services in their business. 64 percent of the non-cloud mature organizations state that security and regulatory requirements are barriers to implementing cloud services. The corresponding figure for cloud mature organizations is 10 percent.
- This shows that the perceived barriers are addressable. The study also indicates that the financial sector, often viewed as rather conservative in the context with high demands on security, is relatively cloud mature compared to other industries. These other industries are however embarking on the same kind of journey towards cloud maturity. We already see a heavily increased demand for industry-specific cloud solutions that are customized and continuously updated for each industry’s special requirements and regulations, says Niraj Sood.
