Government regulations, exit strategies and international data privacy are the top three areas where confidence in cloud computing models is the lowest, according to new research.
A new report from the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) and ISACA has offered insight into the adoption of cloud services following a survey of 250 cloud users – including C-level executives – in 50 countries.
Respondents revealed that they were least confident about the following 10 issues when it came to adopting cloud computing services:
- Government regulations keeping pace with the market
- Exit strategies
- International data privacy
- Legal issues
- Contract lock-in
- Data ownership and custodian responsibilities
- Longevity of suppliers
- Integration of cloud with internal systems
- Credibility of suppliers
- Testing and assurance
“One of the most interesting findings is that governance issues recur repeatedly on the list of the top 10 concerns,” said Greg Grocholski, international president, ISACA said in a statement.
“As cloud services evolve, it is critical that we work together as an industry to provide insights and recommendations on these issues.”
Nearly all the respondents felt that cloud computing was far from reaching maturity with only software-as-a-service cautiously placed at the earliest stage of growth with infrastructure and platform services considered to be in their infancy.
However, respondents were moderately confident that cloud services were meeting service and strategy expectations and that problems were being addressed.
They felt there was room for improvement when it came to innovation in the cloud. Almost one in four (24 per cent) indicated that there was no or limited levels of innovation in the market.
“Survey results show that CIOs and IT management understand cloud best and are most involved in driving cloud innovation in their organisations,” said Yves Le Roux, a member of CSA and the ISACA Guidance and Practices Committee.
“This limits cloud maturity and innovation since cloud continues to be viewed as a technical solution and not as a business enabler.
“Cloud can provide business-building innovation but to get to that point, there needs to be more buy-in and a better understanding among business leaders and c-level executives of the cloud’s value and risk.”
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