Boost Profit and Cut Costs with the Cloud!

Cloud computing is steadily gaining in popularity as a beneficial and profitable way to source and deliver IT products and services for many organizations worldwide.  As cloud adoption rates grow, more and more companies take notice and consider cloud solutions for their own business needs.  If you are thinking about taking your business or organization to the cloud, you will be interested to read Thor Olavsrud’s recent article in CIO online, “How Cloud Computing Helps Cut Costs, Boosts Profits.”  In this article Olavsrud compiles information and statistics from a recent study conducted by Rackspace Hosting and Manchester Business School.  Below we share some of the interesting findings of this study.

"The findings were pretty telling in terms of the adoption of cloud computing and the benefits of cloud computing," says John Engates, CTO of Rackspace Hosting. "The bottom line is cloud saves companies money and increases their profits."

Rackspace, in conjunction with the Manchester Business School and Vanson Bourne, recently conducted a survey of 1,300 companies in the U.K. and U.S., supplemented by qualitative telephone interviews by the Manchester Business School with companies that used the cloud during December 2012 and January 2013.

The study found that 88 percent of cloud users pointed to cost savings and 56 percent of respondents agreed that cloud services have helped them boost profits. Additionally, 60 percent of respondents said cloud computing has reduced the need for their IT team to maintain infrastructure, giving them more time to focus on strategy and innovation. And indeed, 62 percent of the companies that have saved money are reinvesting those savings back into the business to increase headcount, boost wages and drive product innovation.

"The study shows just what an important impact cloud computing is having on U.K. and U.S. businesses," Engates says. "It's particularly interesting that, despite the ongoing economic backdrop, half of businesses on both sides of ‘the pond’ are actually increasing profits and growing their business through the use of the cloud. This includes investing in headcount and wages as well as driving further innovation."

CIOs and CFOs alike often put a large emphasis on Return on Investment (ROI) when considering any purchase for an organization.  According to Paul Croteau, an enterprise solution engineer at Rackspace, when organizations set out to calculate your cloud ROI they will need to consider factors that are relevant to their enterprise application portfolio and specific computing needs. For example, Croteau believes an ROI analysis should take into account broad considerations like cost per unit of computing power, the tradeoff of the amount of labor necessary to redesign applications that need to operate in a cloud environment and intangibles like time.

"Cloud computing can create a significant return on investment, affording energy, licensing and administrative costs, and it frees up capital and personnel to innovate on new ideas quickly," Croteau states. "Moving to the cloud is a transformational investment, in every sense of the word—but it's a move that many of today's organizations find compelling."

If you would like to learn more about cloud computing and how it can have a positive impact on your profits, contact The Vested Group today.  We have offices in Dallas, TX and Tampa, FL ready serve all of your cloud computing needs!