New study reveals the cloud offered greatest IT benefits in 2011

Thursday, December 29, 2011

As 2011 comes to a close, discussions surrounding which technologies had the greatest impact this year are inevitably pointing toward cloud computing.

A recent study conducted by market research firm Vanson Bourne revealed that 70 percent of CIOs said virtualization and cloud-based technologies had the greatest positive impact on their operations in 2011.

For businesses with 1,000 to 3,000 employees, 76 percent of respondents cited the cloud and virtualization as the most beneficial technologies.

"The research shows that we’re nearing the end of the hype for cloud and virtualization," said CEO of the solutions vendor John Thornhill. "The industry has been talking about them for a number of years - and they’ve become business, rather than just technology terms - but companies are now using these technologies in earnest."

To make sure their data remains protected and their operations can bounce back effectively from disaster, many businesses are using cloud computing solutions for their disaster recovery and business continuity needs. According to recent research from InformationWeek, 23 percent or organizations have adopted the technology for these reasons and nearly 30 percent plan to migrate to the cloud for these benefits in the next two years.