Citrix country manager for Ireland Grace O'Rourke Veitch
Some 70pc of Irish Software Association members surveyed by Citrix say that Irish IT managers are ready to embrace the cloud as an integral part of their infrastructure. Irish IT managers say they believe cloud will add the most advantage to their business in the next 12 months.
The Citrix survey found that 71pc of the firms feel they are already equipped to roll out cloud services within their companies and that their workforces have the skills to embrace cloud services.
A further 92pc see cloud computing as an opportunity for the existing in-house IT department to become more strategic and focus less on tactical day-to-day tasks.
When asked about the demand for mobile working technologies, and conscious of the impact of the consumerisation of IT and a transition to a less nine-to-five focused workplace, business agility was cited by 57pc of respondents as the main driver behind introducing mobility technologies for employees.
“The survey findings are very encouraging; it’s fantastic to see that so many of our members see the value that the cloud can add to their business,” Paul Sweetman, ISA director, explained.
“Businesses who have already introduced cloud computing have found that they have become more efficient and cost effective,” he added.
When questioned about demand from employees for a transition to cloud services and mobile working, 55pc of IT managers indicated that the wider employee base, and not the IT department, was pushing for a change in approach to IT in Irish organisations.
Sales and marketing departments were cited as having the greatest need for mobile working devices at 82pc, followed by customer care (41pc), production (31pc), finance (11pc) and logistics and supply (10pc).
“It is clear that forward-thinking IT departments embracing cloud technology will prosper – realising the many advantages and opportunities that can be achieved by a more flexible approach,” Francis O’Haire, technology and strategy director, DataSolutions, pointed out.
“As employees put pressure on IT departments to introduce technology that can support the proliferation of devices, organisations will find it hard to resist the wave of consumerisation and cloud services.”
Cloud Capital of Europe
“Consumerisation and cloud computing are becoming a part of our everyday lives whether we realise it or not,” explained Grace O’Rourke Veitch, country manager of Citrix in Ireland.
“Employees are driving the demand for cloud technologies that will give them greater flexibility in their working lives and the ability to work from anywhere at any time. The latest study shows that Ireland’s IT departments are reacting to this demand and embracing this new trend.
“While Ireland’s IT managers see the benefits of cloud technologies and mobile working solutions, most interestingly the pressure for change is actually coming from employees, and not the board or the IT team.
“Ireland is arguably the cloud capital of Europe – having already attracted many of the world’s leading data centres and cloud application developers to locate here – and while IT managers are quick to transition to cloud technologies – there is the secondary pressure from employees to completely transform the workplace for the better,” Veitch said.
Join Citrix Ireland country manager Grace O’Rourke Veitch and Ireland’s digital leaders who will gather to discuss cloud computing and the big data revolution at the Cloud Capital Forum on Friday, 23 November, at the Convention Centre Dublin
