Why aren’t cloud services living up to expectations?

Businesses in the UK are not experiencing the ease and benefits that cloud services promise, according to a new report by the market’s third-largest software provider, Advanced Inc.

The firm’s 2019 Digital Business report surveyed over 500 senior stakeholders in the UK from both SMEs and large corporations to understand the state of digital transformation in the country. What they found out is that just 44 percent of the respondents agreed that the flexibility promised by cloud services lived up to their expectations, followed by better efficiencies (31 percent), better productivity (30 percent) and more mobility (21 percent). Only 19 percent agreed that it gave them a better user experience.

Such statistics are certainly disheartening— as according to a report by Gartner, public cloud revenue could increase by 17.5 percent in 2019, as more companies look to digitize their operations.

Businesses are struggling to find the right cloud services

The benefits that digital transformation brings to businesses is undisputed when functional and user-friendly interfaces are installed. It helps boost workforce productivity and improve job satisfaction.

In fact, the survey also noted that most large corporations use more than one cloud solution to run core operations (such as finance, sales, and human resources matters). Since these corporations have more data to deal with, they prefer multiple solutions (63 percent) as opposed to an all-in-one system that smaller businesses prefer (47 percent).

However, when companies fail to understand and integrate their systems well it prevents them from achieving the successful digital transformation that they have envisioned. This fact becomes apparent when Gartner’s report is compared to that of Advanced Inc; where the comparison shows that more companies are spending on cloud services without knowing what’s best for their particular use cases.

Commenting, Jon Wrennall, CTO at Advanced Inc said: “The cloud is fast becoming the preferred choice for positive digital disruption, but it seems it’s not giving businesses what they want on a number of levels.

“This is a concern simply because the cloud can– and should– deliver these benefits and more. It begs the question: are organizations being distracted by hyped-up cloud tools over prioritizing software that is relevant to their own unique needs? And are they not being given the right third-party support to realize the cloud’s value?”

Work with cloud computing experts

When the respondents were pressed further, 70 percent of them agreed that the lack of integration between all the software their businesses use is the main factor that’s holding them back from achieving their digital transformation goals.

To circumvent issues like these, it’s important for business leaders to work closely with experts. Jon noted that “Many businesses are turning their backs on a single-source strategy and choosing to use a small number of specialist solutions for functions like sales, finance, and HR. It’s a smart move but these multiple software solutions– both cloud and on-premise– must be integrated if businesses are to truly improve business performance and productivity. Even better if businesses work with a Solutions Integrator (SI) to ensure their needs are met.”

In our previous article, it was noted that public spending on cloud services is forecasted to double in the next five years. However, issues like these raise important questions on the future of cloud services. Companies that have trouble setting up their digital infrastructure should move faster and act more proactively to address these issues before these systems backfire on their productivity.