Cloud computing is growing rapidly. Businesses are moving to the cloud at an ever-increasing rate for many reasons. The agile ability to access applications from anywhere, anytime is a huge advantage for professionals. Dramatic cost savings are achieved by eliminating expensive hardware and software purchases, upkeep, and IT staff funding. Budgets are even improved by a reduction in overall power and utility bills when switching to the cloud. Many companies who have yet to make the switch are wondering if it will be worthwhile for them to consider.
Microsoft has recently announced that they will be ending support for the Server 2003 operating system. While this did not come as a shock to most, it most certainly served as a wake-up call. There are an estimated 2.6 million hot closets housing a Server 2003 operating system in businesses around the globe, and all will need to migrate over the next 8 months. The businesses will be faced with the decision: purchase brand new expensive hardware or look for an alternative solution at a much more affordable monthly rate. Cloud adoption is expected to climb dramatically during this time period as the hosted solution is more and more feasible, reliable, and secure.
As more and more businesses adopt cloud hosting services, studies and surveys are being conducted to determine satisfaction rates. Software as a Service (Saas) implementation is a huge decision for a company to make and therefore professionals are looking for the opinions of others who have already made the move. TechRepublic recently conducted a study of existing SaaS users, and the results were staggering. 91% of professionals surveyed report that their cloud computing solutions have either met or exceeded expectations.
These results are quite encouraging for businesses of all sizes who are considering making the move to the cloud. Software hosting is proving to be just as advertised and is benefiting businesses across the board. Many versions of business critical applications are available in the cloud. From SAP to your CRM of choice, QuickBooks hosting or Sage 50 hosting, all enterprise apps imaginable can be found in the cloud. This new data should help professionals make the decision to adopt a hosted software platform for their company’s applications and data.
