The cloud offers senior executives the business control they demand, according to international research from Cisco and Intel, meaning IT departments need to “become more collaborative and innovative as result.”
The rising adoption of cloud services is “fundamentally changing” how businesses consume IT, according to the Cisco Consulting Services report, in conjunction with Intel.
The report found that in a majority of organisations, control of IT planning and purchasing is increasingly being shifted to lines of business (LOBs), such as HR, sales and R&D. Their rising influence “represents a marked departure from the traditional ‘top-down’ approach, forcing IT departments to adapt”, Cisco says.
“The Impact of Cloud on IT Consumption Models” report – based on a global survey of over 4,000 IT decision makers – found that while 43 percent of funding currently comes from LOBs, 59 percent of respondents predict this will rise.
As a proportion, the cloud represents almost a quarter of total IT spend (23 percent), with that figure expected to rise to 27 percent by 2016.
