You need to trust in the cloud to reap its benefits, EIU-Google study finds

• Report points to links between trust in cloud technology and business outcomes
• Those citing high levels of trust had a 9% rise in profitability over the last year

 
A REPORT recently published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) underscores the importance of fostering trust in the cloud to reap its full business benefits.
 
Roughly 99% of respondents’ organisations have some of their information technology in the cloud, according to the EIU survey. But trust in this technology lags its use, with just 16% of survey respondents noting very high cloud trust, the EIU said in a statement.
 
With organisations expanding their use of the technology, cloud technology may well become the mainstay of IT in the future, it added.
 
As trust forms the bedrock of the effective use of new technologies, failing to foster cloud trust could hobble organisations as the cloud grows in scope and scale, the report adds.
 
Trust in Cloud Technology and Business Performance: Reaping Benefits from the Cloud (PDF), sponsored by Google, explores links between cloud use, cloud trust and organisational performance.
 

 
In a global survey for the report, 46% or more of those who cite ‘very’ or ‘somewhat high trust’ in the cloud at their organisation say their IT operations, non-IT functions and profitability have been completely transformed due to cloud use, versus the 10% of their ‘moderate’ to ‘very low cloud trust’ peers who make the same claim.
 
As executives look to boost productivity and transform their organisations through new technologies, several efforts seem to disproportionately affect trust in cloud technology, including leadership, the report said.
 
Nearly half (47%) of respondents who say that senior executives consider cloud trust to be a leading priority at their organisation note a great increase in cloud trust over the last three years versus 6% for other respondents.
 

 
“As organisations expand their use of the cloud, those with higher levels of trust are able to transform their organisations more quickly, and the resulting business benefits can be substantial,” said the report’s editor Carolyn Whelan.
 
“But active, high-level efforts to increase trust in the cloud are key to raising trust levels, to reap its full business benefits,” she added.
 
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