News
ServiceNow: 54% of European Retail Organisations Now Adopting a Cloud-First Approach
April 2017 by ServiceNow
ServiceNow announces the retail industry findings of its, “Cloud Computing Tipping Point” report, which reveals that adoption of cloud computing is finally measuring up to the hype, with more than half (54 percent) of European retailers now adopting a cloud-first approach.
The report, based on a global survey of 1,850 mid- to senior-level managers, including 114 working in European retail organisations, also reveals that more than nine of out 10 European retailers (94 percent) will complete the shift to the cloud within two years – significantly more than the 77 percent average across all sectors, which includes financial services, manufacturing, healthcare, and professional services.
The research, commissioned by ServiceNow, explored the adoption, drivers, and implications of an increasingly cloud-centric world. It reveals game-changing consequences for IT departments as the influence of DevOps extends across retail enterprises.
DevOps is Driving the Charge to a Cloud-First World
• Nearly every respondent (94 percent) globally said they are involved in some way with the DevOps movement, which aims for early and frequent collaboration between IT and developers to drive the rapid creation and hosting of new apps and services.
• A large majority (76 percent) also said that the rise of DevOps is a major factor that is driving the move to cloud-first.
A Cloud-First World Demands a New IT Skill Set
• 89 percent of all companies who have completed the shift to a cloud-first model said their current IT staff lacked the required skill sets to be successful in the new cloud world.
• 88 percent of all survey respondents feel cloud could be a replacement for a formal IT department at least some of the time.
IT will have to adapt to this new reality, where most of the apps and infrastructure are outside the data center.
• 72 percent said the cloud shift actually raised IT’s relevancy to the business.
• 68 percent said IT will be completely essential in the future.
“For years pundits have waited for an enterprise shift from traditional data center computing to cloud computing. Today, reality meets hype in the retail industry, and cloud-first consumption will accelerate at a break-neck speed in the next two years,” said Chris Pope, Office of the Chief Strategy Officer, ServiceNow.
Pope continued: “Cloud is not new, so why was 2016 the year enterprises became cloud-first? According to the survey, the answer is the rise of DevOps. DevOps saw early that cloud computing could solve many of the issues they were grappling with. And DevOps’s ‘can-do’ vibe – enabled by cloud – is extending across the enterprise.”
