Cloud Computing Causes Confusion

PR Log (Press Release) – Aug 04, 2009 – Melbourne, Australia: Workflow software firm, Web and Flo, have conducted their own Australian survey, after a UK study revealed that 41% of senior IT professionals don’t know what Cloud Computing is.

Web and Flo surveyed a range of their regular customers and colleagues and discovered similar results to that of the UK study.

UK based company, Version One, decided to carry out a survey amongst IT professionals after discovering that the term “cloud computing” caused confusion amongst senior professionals.

The results show that 41% of UK senior IT professionals do not know what cloud computing is, compared to 40% of Web and Flo’s Australian colleagues.

Of the 59% of UK participants who claim to know about Cloud Computing, 17% think that it means internet-based computing. However, of the 60% of Australian participants who think they understand the term, only 8% believe that cloud computing is internet-based computing.

The remaining participants (UK and Australia) believe that Cloud Computing is a combination of internet-based computing, software as a service (SaaS), software on demand, outsourced or managed services and hosted software services.

Wikipedia defines Cloud Computing as internet-based computing, with “cloud” being used as a metaphor for the Internet, and as an abstract term for the “complex infrastructure it conceals”.

Web and Flo’s Anna Fogarty said that the survey has highlighted a need for a single, common definition to be adopted by everyone, and that the media is confusing professionals by introducing too many buzz words.  

“Yesterday it was SaaS - today it is Cloud Computing.  The Business Process Management industry is suffering because there is no consistency in language or terms, which creates confusion for our customers,” said Fogarty.

“There are many different understandings of what cloud computing actually is. A clear definition, especially amongst IT professionals, is needed.”

“Web and Flo believes Cloud Computing is software delivered through internet.  It is an amazing revolution in the way we do business and should be embraced by businesses of all sizes.”

For those companies wanting to invest in Cloud Computing, the key benefits include a decrease in paper usage, reduction in infrastructure costs, reduction in IT Management costs, streamlining of processes and ease of use.  

Web and Flo would like to thank Version One for sharing the results of their Cloud Computing survey.