Which cloud `type’ are you?

In any walk of life people tend to fall into definable categories. And when they group together in some way, for example in a company or business, that organisation can start to adopt characteristics based on the people within it.

Signs of this in action have emerged in the cloud services world as a by-product of worldwide survey conducted by NTT Com Security, which used to be known as Integralis, into the attitudes of organisations to the adoption of cloud computing.

At one level this can be said to be just a bit of harmless fun, a curiosity that has sprung from a piece of research. But at another level, anyone looking to sell cloud services should take this on board and configure their selling messages accordingly, as well as learn how to `read’ people and their attitudes.

According to the research, made across700 IT decision makers in USA/Canada, UK, Germany, Nordics, Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong, all organisations fit into five cloud personas - personalities defined by their levels of enthusiasm for cloud computing and the extent of their adoption.

These are:

The Controller – least likely to be using cloud, wedded to datacentres and unlikely to experiment with new and emerging technologies. Controllers see no financial gain and cloud is not part of their IT strategy.

The Accepter – likely to have adopted cloud in the past two years and to adopt technology where there is a clear business case.  Cloud is not central to their IT strategy and they are unlikely to see financial benefits.

The Experimenter – likely to experiment with new technologies and to move the majority of services into the cloud in the next year.  Used in half or more departments and a quarter of budget is dedicated to cloud.

The Believer – very likely to actively seek out new technologies and to have moved the majority of services into the cloud in the next year.  Critical to the deployment of services with a third of budget allocated to it.

The Embracer – has been using cloud for 3+ years, very active in seeking out new technologies, dedicates over half its budget and is very likely to see an increase in revenues and profits from cloud.

The survey found, however, that even Controllers recognise the inevitability of cloud, with only 29 percent of this group admitting they have no intention of ever using it. At the other end of the scale, 81 percent of Embracers have already moved the majority of their data and services into the cloud.

When it comes to concerns over risk and security two-thirds of Controllers believe their own datacentres are best placed to securely deliver services. That scepticism is also present amongst Embracers, with 26 percent of them choosing to deploy services though a corporately-owned datacentre when ‘security’ is critical. In addition, 28 percent chose the same when ‘regulation’ is critical to deployment.

Even as the most cloud-averse, Controllers are more positive about cloud as a way of delivering services to new global territories 34 percent choosing cloud.  Experimenters and Acceptors also place emphasis on the importance of cloud for delivering services into new territories, with 61 and 59 percent respectively stating it is the best platform for service delivery.

“While cloud is now an established and maturing technology, attitudes to adoption still vary greatly among different organisations and across different geographies,” explains Garry Sidaway, Global Director of Security Strategy at NTT Com Security. 

“What’s clear is that those using cloud long term do have greater faith in its abilities to deliver in terms of cost benefits, business agility and flexibility and have fewer concerns over security and deploying into new territories.  What’s interesting, however, is that there’s still a perceptible level of reticence even among the most active and enthusiastic cloud users when it comes to the question of whether cloud is the best means of delivering secure and legally-compliant services.”