Businesspeople Take Charge of Cloud Computing, But Still Depend on IT: Survey

Grazed from Forbes. Author: Joe McKendrick.

Cloud computing may represent the beginning of a shift of control of business technology away from information technology departments and into the hands of managers and professionals from other parts of the business. While a third of executives responding to a recent survey (32%) agree that the IT department is currently the main driver of cloud adoption, another 45% report that individual business units are ultimately responsible for cloud adoption strategies.

These are some of the findings from a new survey of 460 IT leaders and senior business managers conducted by Capgemini. However, just because cloud computing is in more of the hands of the business doesn’t mean it’s run as effectively as possible. For example, the board of directors is seen as both a driver (29%) and a blocker (28%) of cloud initiatives. This suggests that in many cases, “benefiting from the cloud is still being hindered by a lack of appropriate senior level understanding and commitment,” the report states. “It is safe to conclude that by now the benefits of the cloud are clear and widely understood.”…

At the same time, the cloud is assuming a great deal of strategic value, says Capgemini’s said Ron Tolido, “The initiative for driving cloud solutions is shifting from the IT department to the business unit as companies focus more on tangible business value,” he says…

Read more from the source @ http://www.forbes.com/sites/joemckendrick/2012/11/29/businesspeople-take-charge-of-cloud-computing-but-still-depend-on-it-survey/