You hear a lot about the cloud in tech news. But a recent survey of IT directors found that the cloud isn’t exactly catching on like wildfire as the media would have you believe, as least not quite yet in the world of business. That recent survey was conducted by Reconnix, a trading firm that specializes in open source cloud providers. It found that 80% of IT directors believe their companies are not ready to migrate to the cloud, mainly because they lack the in-house skills needed to do so. Here are some other findings from the survey:

• Only 7% believe their staff has the necessary skills to migrate to the cloud
• 8% have already migrated or are in the process of doing so

Respondents were also asked which cloud provider they most prefer:

• The most popular provider was Microsoft Azure, named as the top choice for 36% of respondents
• 2^nd place goes to IBM’s Smart Cloud with 22%
• Amazon Web Services (AWS) takes bronze with 14%
• 14% also picked Rackspace

Reconnix CTO Steve Nice was not expecting Azure or IBM to be so popular in the IT community. “The prominence of Azure and IBM in IT buyers’ minds is surprising, especially considering how far ahead AWS is, both technically and in market share,” Nice said. “IT departments that are not used to buying cloud services sometimes are not aware of the difference in levels of performance between IaaS providers, and it can be tempting to choose a trusted name.”

Nice also warned companies that there will be consequences for stalling their eventual shift to the cloud. “It’s clearly a confidence issue, and the challenge is for IT departments to take the necessary steps to prepare themselves for inevitable change,” Nice said. “By failing to take action now, they risk putting themselves at a technological disadvantage to competitors, or being caught blindsided and forced to rush through a migration that could end up costing over the odds.”

So stop dragging your feet! Cloud computing is here to stay, and the sooner you switch over, the sooner you can start saving your company time and money (by switching to IaaS, you won’t have to pay for maintaining hardware, you’ll save on electricity costs, and you can easily scale up or down depending on your needs). If your IT department lacks the necessary skills to make the migration, then it’s time for them to give our team of cloud experts a call.

Interested in moving to the cloud but lack the in-house skills to do so? Or maybe you’d like to learn more about the benefits of the cloud? Contact Vertical IT at (888) 505-8215 or send us an email at info@verticalitcorp.com.