Trust Cloud And Reap Profits, Finds Google-Backed Study

Organisations that have a higher trust in moving their workloads to cloud have reported increased revenue, profit and share prices, according to a new study carried out by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

The findings of the Google-sponsored research also show that those who trust the cloud more also have more success in other, non-financial metrics, such as reputation and sector leadership.

In comparison, companies who have a lower trust in cloud computing are not reporting the same impacts on their businesses.

Cause and effect

Interestingly, cloud use alone, independent of trust, doesn’t appear to produce the same benefits to nearly the same extent, said EIU, with the survey data revealing that there is no significant connection between cloud usage and positive outcomes.

But rather, the relationship between trust in cloud technology and positive business outcomes at high-trust organisations appears to be linked to their willingness to foster change, with the adoption of cloud sparking behavioral and process changes for the better.

“Successfully developing trust appears to build on the active leadership of senior executives; supporting employees and functions to do their jobs through the cloud; and encouraging them to experiment with cloud use to change how an organisation operates in ways large and small,” said EIU.

The April 2016 study quizzed 452 senior executives across ten developed or developing countries, including the UK, India, Germany, and the US. Respondents hailed from diverse industries, including communications, consumer goods, entertainment, financial services, and healthcare.

But despite the positive outcomes reported by those who hath trust in cloud, trust in cloud technology was “muted”, said EIU, with only 16 percent of respondents claiming very high trust in cloud.

“Although just over half of respondents (52 percent) note some increase in overall cloud trust in the past three years, just 15 percent report a great rise in confidence in the cloud,” found EIU.

“Notably, almost as many cite a decline in trust (13 percent). Finally, the current level of trust is low: Today, just 16 percent of respondents say their organisation has a very high level of trust in the cloud overall.”

Google

Of course, no cloud conversation involving Google can he had without placing it in the context of Google Cloud Platform, Google’s public cloud infrastructure service that competes with Microsoft’s Azure and Amazon Web Services.

It was back in March when, under the leadership of new Cloud head Diane Greene, Google’s Cloud Platform made a series of announcementa striking at the heart of Amazon Web Services.

Google is attempting to broaden its offerings for both consumers and enterprises, looking to pick up high profile customers.

“In the last year, cloud has gone from being the untrusted option to being seen as a more secure option for many companies,” said Brian Stevens, vice president of product management for Google Cloud Platform.

“We know that compliance, support and integration with existing IT investments is critical for businesses trying to use public cloud services to accelerate into new markets.”

The latest cloud market share reports from Synergy Research show that Amazon Web Services has a 31 percent share of the public cloud market, while Google lies behind with just four percent. Microsoft holds a nine percent share.

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