Trend Report: Why

Businesses are Moving

to the Cloud
An inside look at how businesses are turning to the
cloud to solve everyday issues

1
 Table of Contents
2 Introduction
5 Running Business in the Cloud
9 Virtualization
11 Mobile Devices
13 Conclusion
14 Microsoft Can Help

1 The Small Business Cloud Outlook - Table of Contents

Introduction
Today’s growing businesses face a tough challenge. They need to provide the same affordable,
always-on mobile services that more established businesses offer, but without the economic
support enterprises can fall back on. That means IT professionals are constantly looking for
creative ways to do more with less: managing teams, stretching budgets, and making the most of
infrastructure and applications. To meet the needs of their organizations within those constraints,
they’re turning to the cloud.

Studies show that large enterprises are making heavier use of cloud-based applications than
their smaller counterparts, but that small and mid-sized businesses are catching up fast. While
only about 37% of small and mid-sized businesses are using cloud-based apps this year, experts
anticipate that number to reach 78% by 2020. They also predict that the US small and mid-sized
business cloud computing and services market will grow from $43B to $55B this year. 1,2

We took a closer look at how today’s IT professionals are putting cloud solutions to work in their
businesses and how they’re starting to shift their IT spend to match. This e-book offers a high-
level overview of current cloud and technology usage in growing businesses, including what
workloads are shifting first, what’s driving these efforts and how experience is lining up with these
expectations.

As cloud-based applications and solutions come within reach of businesses of all sizes, IT
professionals are finding new ways to reduce costs and boost productivity. Read on to see what
your colleagues are discovering.

Cloud-based app adoption, looking ahead: 1

78%

37%

2015 2020
The Small Business Cloud Outlook - Introduction 2
 Survey Information
To get a clear picture of the current IT landscape, we asked more than 250 IT professionals across
the globe to tell us about their companies, industries and budgets. Respondents come from
companies with fewer than 250 employees operating in a mix of industries. Their average IT
budgets were just over $100,000, and many expect to increase their IT spend in 2016.

Key Findings
The process of virtualizing workloads and moving applications to the cloud is well-accepted
among businesses looking for a smart, affordable way to support a workforce using a growing
array of mobile devices to work, communicate, collaborate and engage customers.

1 The majority of businesses surveyed have adopted some form of cloud

solution or hosted service in an effort to simplify their daily tasks, lower
costs and give employees always-on access to information and applications.

2
IT professionals are also virtualizing their servers in order to handle IT-
related workloads ranging from storage and printing to security.

3 Growing businesses are increasingly using and supporting smartphones,

tablets, laptops and other mobile devices within their organizations.
These devices are often BYOD and run on a range of operating systems.

3 The Small Business Cloud Outlook - Introduction

Companies are looking to move daily
business services to the cloud. That
change is only possible if they can tailor
cloud services to their own operations.

Paul Korzeniowski, TechTarget 3

4
 Running Business in
the Cloud
IT professionals work to provide their colleagues with the tools and services they need, but they’re
also tightly focused on keeping costs down. Cloud-based software delivery is becoming the
standard for reaching both goals.

Roughly three-quarters of the IT professionals surveyed said they’re using some type of cloud or
hosted service. The most common cloud services include Web hosting (75%), productivity solutions
(55%), email hosting (54%) and content filtering (45%).

In addition to simplifying IT management, IT professionals mentioned the need to increase

availability (51%) and reduce both IT complexity and costs (45% and 44%).

These expectations appear to track with experience: As a result of using a cloud approach, nearly
80% said they’re saving money and seeing more productivity and better security. More specifically,
they reported saving 20% on average, as a result of moving hosting services and productivity apps
to the cloud.

74%
of respondents report their
organizations use some type
of cloud/hosted service.

5 The Small Business Cloud Outlook - Running Business in the Cloud

As a result of using a cloud approach,
nearly 80% [of surveyed IT pros] said
they’re saving money, seeing more
productivity and better security.

6
 Most common cloud service adoption

Currently use Plan to use in next 6 months No plans to use in next 6 months

Web hosting 75% 3% 23%

Productivity solutions 55% 13% 32%

Email hosting 54% 11% 35%

Content filtering 45% 6% 49%

Online backup/recovery 37% 17% 46%

Infrastructure 30% 12% 57%

Industry-specific applications 28% 5% 67%

Business support 28% 7% 65%

Application hosting 28% 8% 64%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

7 The Small Business Cloud Outlook - Running Business in the Cloud

Key drivers for moving to a cloud approach

To simplify IT management 58%

To increase availability/access 51%

To reduce IT complexity 45%

To reduce IT costs 44%

To increase efficiency/productivity 42%

To improve support/service 35%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

of respondents report experiencing cost

savings, increased employee productivity
and/or improved security as a result of
using a cloud approach.

On average, respondents report

a cost savings of approximately:

The Small Business Cloud Outlook - Running Business in the Cloud 8

 Virtualization

Another thing many IT professionals have in common is the use of virtualization technology. More
than three-quarters of respondents said their organizations are virtualizing their servers. The top
workloads involved are IT-related: 83% are using virtual servers to provide IT services such as
storage and printing, while 76% report using them to handle internal IT concerns, such as security
and inventory management.

Companies with virtualized servers may look to cloud solutions as a logical next step, in order to
take advantage of the benefits of self-service provisioning and the ability to scale as usage changes.

Virtualization adoption

78% Yes

No, but I plan to

6% within 6 months

No, and I don’t plan

14% to within 6 months

2% Not sure

9 The Small Business Cloud Outlook - Virtualization

Top workloads running in a virtualized environment

Currently run Plan to run in next 6 months No plans to run in next 6 months

IT services 83% 9% 9%

Internal IT 76% 9% 15%

Industry-specific applications 63% 8% 29%

Productivity applications 62% 9% 29%

Business support 60% 10% 29%

Development 42% 5% 53%

Content publishing 41% 7% 52%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

The Small Business Cloud Outlook - Virtualization 10

 Mobile Devices

Regardless of size, businesses today are becoming increasingly mobile, with employees traveling
more often to meet clients; to work with teams from other offices; or to connect with workers
in the field, in different retail locations and more. Studies also show that nearly half of growing
companies’ owners now routinely use smartphones to run day-to-day operations.1 As a result,
these companies’ IT professionals are looking for better ways to support mobile employees and
provide better access and security from a growing range of devices­­—and cloud is a great way to do
this.

IT professionals in our survey said 95% of their organizations support laptops, while 88% support
smartphones and 78% support tablets. Based on their feedback, the average small or mid-
sized business supports 29 laptops, 38 smartphones and 14 tablets on its network, although
organizations in EMEA support considerably more laptops and smartphones than those in North
America.

Smartphones emerged as the most commonly supported BYOD device across geographies. No
single mobile OS platform dominated in the survey; most organizations see a pretty even mix.

We were reaching a tipping point with

over half of our system users being mobile
users. All roads lead to mobile first, and we
needed to support it through the cloud.

Respondent, Forrester survey 4

11 The Small Business Cloud Outlook - Mobile Devices

Types of mobile devices supported on networks
(Company owned and BYOD)

100%

95%
80% 88%
78%
60%

40%

20%

2%
0%

Laptops Smartphones Tablets Other

On average, organizations support the following on their networks:

29
Laptops

38
Smartphones

14
Tablets

The Small Business Cloud Outlook - Mobile Devices 12

 Conclusion
As cloud applications and capabilities become attainable for businesses of all sizes, IT professionals
are using these solutions to make day-to-day work faster, more agile and more secure across their
organizations. What’s more, they’re putting their companies in position to realize real benefits:
Anywhere, anytime access to the applications and information employees need, with lower total
costs and less infrastructure to purchase and maintain. The result is that IT professionals can shift
even more of their time, talent and budgets toward delivering big results.

When we talk about cloud, it’s no longer

a future issue; it’s a present and essential
element, addressing real business needs,
adding simplicity and security, and helping
to accelerate innovation and growth. These
benefits can’t be ignored.
John Mason, Thoughts on Cloud 5

13
 Microsoft Can Help

Microsoft addresses the evolving needs of businesses at all stages of growth with Office 365: Top-of-
the-line, familiar tools that make it easy for employees to get the information they need and to work
and collaborate effectively on the go. Office 365’s cloud-based delivery model streamlines installation,
upgrades, management and security, freeing-up time and making the most of IT budgets.

Increase productivity with trusted software like Microsoft Word,

Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook—with better features, automatic
updates, availability on any OS, and built-in security and compliance.

Subscription-based model cost savings are more cost-effective than

buying individual licenses. Office 365 also reduces infrastructure
costs and eliminates the need for time-consuming implementation,
licensing headaches and software support.

Automatic upgrades, patches and updates on every device

are at no additional cost.

Easy-to-use Web-based admin tools simplify IT management and

are accessible from anywhere, with services that are always on
and always up-to-date.

Learn more

To understand how easy it is to adopt Cloud solutions with Insight please click below.

Learn more

The Small Business Cloud Outlook - Microsoft Can Help 14

 About the survey
Microsoft commissioned Spiceworks to conduct an online survey in August 2015 to examine the
current state of IT for SMBs. A total of 264 surveys were collected from North America (70%) and
EMEA (30%), and from industries including IT services, manufacturing, non-profit, finance, healthcare
and construction. All respondents were IT professionals with insight into budgeting practices for their
organizations, in roles that range from hands-on administration to high-level management. Their
organizations are SMBs with fewer than 250 employees. Of these, 39% came from organizations with
100 to 249 employees, and 61% came from organizations with fewer than 100 employees.

References:
1
“Roundup Of Small & Medium Business Cloud Computing Forecasts And Market Estimates, 2015,”
Forbes, May 2015. http://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2015/05/04/roundup-of-small-
medium-business-cloud-computing-forecasts-and-market-estimates-2015/

2
“SMB Cloud is an IT priority and an IT reality reaching 96 percent adoption in the US,” techaisle,
February 2015. http://techaisle.com/blog/184-smb-cloud-is-an-it-priority-and-an-it-reality-reaching-
96-percent-adoption-in-the-us

3
“Cloud computing technology trends in 2015,” TechTarget, December 2014.
http://searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/feature/Cloud-computing-technology-trends-in-2015

4
“ROI of Office 365: Forrester Total Economic Impact Summary,” Forrester, 2015. http://www.slideshare.
net/whymsft/roi-of-office-365-forrestroioffice365forrestertotaleconomicimpact

5
“Top 5 uses of cloud computing for 2015,” Thoughts on Cloud, April 2015.
http://www.thoughtsoncloud.com/2015/04/top-5-uses-of-cloud-computing-for-2015-2/

15