US CFOs are setting an example to their European counterparts by embracing a move towards Cloud Computing.
According to a survey by accounting firm BDO Seidman, fifty-six percent of CFOs at US technology companies are currently using Cloud Computing in some capacity. Ninety percent of them reckon their use of Cloud Computing will remain the same or increase this year. CFOs cite cost flexibility (32%), increased scalability (32%) and improved business ability (29%) as the drivers for embracing Cloud Computing instead of sticking with running their own data centre.
Sixty-four percent of CFOs said they are familiar with Cloud Computing, but despite the promised lower costo of the model, 44 percent have resisted the shift to the Cloud. The main inhibitors are (inevitably) security concerns (39%), the hassle and expense (29%) and limited application features (14%).
“Security threats remain the top concern for tech CFOs looking to implement cloud computing within their organisation, but this risk is substantially minimised given world-class Cloud providers, such as Amazon and Microsoft and the emergence of numerous other vendors now competing in the space,” said Jay Howell, a Partner in the Technology Practice at BDO. “Cost savings have proved Cloud Computing’s strong ROI potential, and this is driving continued investment, resulting in increasing robustness and business ability of Cloud-based applications.”
The Cloud conclusions are part of the wider findings from the BDO Seidman 2010 Technology Outlook Survey, which looked at the opinions of 100 chief financial officers at leading technology companies. Other findings include the fact that two-thirds (66%) of technology CFOs are interested in clean technology, while 34% say clean tech is not important to their business. Still, nearly half (43%) of CFOs surveyed report that they do produce clean tech products or services and 46% source products or services from clean technology vendors. Interestingly, 54% of multinational companies are likely to produce clean tech products or services versus only 33% of US-only companies.
Increased concerns over competition and government regulation are also top of mind . More than a third (39%) of CFOs say that competition will have the greatest impact on the current funding environment, followed closely by regulatory developments (31%). Other factors impacting financing this year include fewer domestic startups (11%), loss of US global technology leadership (9%) and a decline in innovation (8%).
Post new Comment