Cloud Migration Session at Cloud Expo

This year, according to an annual study by BDO, an accounting and consulting organization, a majority (56%) of chief financial officers (CFOs) at leading U.S. technology businesses are currently using cloud computing in some capacity. Further, the vast majority (90%) report their use of cloud computing will remain the same or increase this year. CFOs cite cost flexibility (32%), increased scalability (32%) and improved business ability (29%) as the driving reasons for embracing cloud computing instead of provisioning IT services from their own data center.

The majority of tech CFOs (64%) are familiar with cloud computing. Still, despite the allure of cost savings, some CFOs (44%) have resisted the shift to the cloud and list security concerns (39%), the hassle and expense (29%) and limited application features (14%) as their reasons.

“Security threats remain the top concern for tech CFOs looking to implement cloud computing within their organization, but this risk is substantially minimized given world-class cloud providers, such as Amazon and Microsoft and the emergence of numerous other vendors now competing in the space,” said Jay Howell, a Partner in the Technology Practice at BDO. “Cost savings have proved cloud computing’s strong ROI potential, and this is driving continued investment, resulting in increasing robustness and business ability of cloud-based applications.”

Other major findings of the 2010 Technology Outlook Survey:

• CFOs Eye Clean Technology. Two-thirds (66%) of technology CFOs are interested in clean technology, while 34 percent say clean tech is not important to their business. Still, nearly half (43%) of CFOs surveyed report that they do produce clean tech products or services and 46 percent source products or services from clean technology vendors. Interestingly, 54 percent of multinational companies are likely to produce clean tech products or services versus only 33 percent of U.S.-only companies.
• Federal Government Makes an Impact. CFOs (41%) report the federal government causes the biggest impact on their level of involvement in clean technology, followed by state (17%) and local (16%) regulations and incentives.

These findings are from the BDO Seidman 2010 Technology Outlook Survey, which examined the opinions of 100 chief financial officers at leading technology companies located throughout the U.S. The survey was conducted in January of 2010.

The BDO 2010 Technology Outlook Survey is a national telephone survey conducted by Market Measurement, Inc., an independent market research consulting firm, whose executive interviewers spoke directly to chief financial officers. Market Measurement used a telephone survey performed within a scientifically-developed, pure random sample of U.S. technology companies in the software, hardware, telecommunications, internet and information technology services sub-sectors. The companies surveyed had revenues up to $10 billion.

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