Moving IT operations to the cloud is good for the bottom line

UK’s businesses are earning less because they lack cloud skills, a new report by Rackspace and the London School of Economics claims. The report also says that the lack of these skills is also hindering creativity.

The report, called The Cost of Cloud Expertise, is based on a poll of 950 IT professionals. Two thirds (64 percent) said they’re losing out on revenue due to the lack of required cloud expertise. The same amount said they need to invest more in the workforce. Even more, 67 percent, said their organizations could bring more innovation if they knew how to use cloud to the fullest.

Almost half believes this lack of skills is slowing down their abilities of deploying cloud platforms. A quarter (28 percent) said this wasn’t the issue for them.

Lee James, chief technology officer at Rackspace EMEA, said: "While the rise of Artificial Intelligence and automation may cause some to think that human insight is less important, our report shows that this is not the case. With the cloud now underpinning business transformation, the growing technology skills gap means organizations must have a strategy to access the expertise needed. Those that don’t will struggle to be competitive and innovative."

There is a positive side to the story, too.

Almost half of businesses (42 percent) that moved most of their IT to the cloud are seeing a positive return on investment. Another 44 percent said they are expecting a positive ROI in the future.

Knowing how important qualified workforce is, the report also touches on the topic of what skilled workers are looking for in a company. Salary and benefits are the biggest priority, but being able to progress in a company, and being able to work on interesting projects are also important factors.

Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Future plc Publication. All rights reserved.

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