Privacy Rules, Euro Crisis and Recession Stall European Cloud Adoption
June 3, 2012
The combination of European privacy rules, multi-country business processes, the Euro crisis and a lingering recession will continue to delay cloud computing adoption in Europe by at least two years compared to the U.S., according to the IT research firm Gartner (News 
– Alert).
Although interest in the cloud is high in Europe, the diversity of Europe’s 44 different nations will result in slow cloud adoption this region of the world, according to Paolo Malinverno, vice president at Gartner.
“The opportunities for cloud computing value are valid all over the world, and the same is true for some of the risks and costs,” Malinverno said. “However, some of cloud computing’s potential risks and costs – namely security, transparency and integration – which are generally applicable worldwide, take on a different meaning in Europe.”…
Gartner has outlined four main inhibitors for cloud in Europe over the next few years: diverse and changing data privacy regulations; complex B2B multi-enterprise integration and processes; the slowness and undesired effects of some EU policies; and the investment hold caused by the Euro crisis.
Diverse Data Privacy Regulations
Moving personal data to the cloud, protecting it adequately and complying with privacy laws are problems that have been classic cloud inhibitors, but they can be solved, Gartner said.
“The bottom line for European companies is that in spite of a great deal of inaccurate information, and single countries pushing nationalistic cloud agendas, there are ways of using cloud more safely,” according to the researcher.
Complex B2B Multi-enterprise Integration and Processes
Europe’s diversity issues are compounded when it comes to running very common and multi-enterprise processes across different countries, Gartner said. Frequently, regulations and business practices in one country are incompatible or undesirable in another, because each country typically extends its pre-existing legislation. In a fast growing new market such as cloud computing, diversity makes achieving the required critical mass more difficult and significantly slows down the execution of players wanting to offer cloud services throughout Europe.
Undesired Effects of Some EU Policies
The EU was established to promote economic and social progress and to achieve balanced and sustainable development, through the creation of a group of member states without internal barriers. The EU achieves this aim by issuing policies and regulations which are subsequently worked into the legislation of each member state. The whole process can take considerable time, especially as each member state has the sovereign power to add local legislation to whatever policy or regulation is agreed at EU level.
Gartner analysts said there are plenty of examples of this sort of delay: e-invoicing being one of the most recent, and the use of cloud likely to be the next.
The Investment Hold Caused by the Euro Crisis
The continuing economic crisis within the countries using the single European currency has deep IT implications, because increasing uncertainty about the euro is causing major investments to be put on hold. This is slowing down strategic and game changing decision making. This inhibitor might not weigh as much as the previous three, but it is certainly worthy of consideration.
“The bottom line is that the interest in cloud is as high in Europe as it is elsewhere in the world,” said David Mitchell (News – Alert) Smith, vice president and Gartner Fellow. “While these inhibitors will certainly slow down cloud adoption in Europe, they will not stop it – the potential benefits of cloud are too attractive and the interest in its efficiency and agility are too strong to stall it for long.”