According to a new report from IDC, the transition to “cloud also” or “cloud first” is “well under way for manufacturers around the globe.”
Based on IDC’s data, in the United States today, 41% of manufacturing respondents say they are now accessing IT resources via the public cloud.
This new IDC study, “Worldwide Cloud Adoption in the Manufacturing Industry,” heralds that the advantages of cloud computing for manufacturers “are significant, as line of business leaders and their IT organizations increasingly rely on cloud to flexibly deliver IT resources at the cost and speed the business requires.”
Key findings from this new report include:
- A majority of manufacturers worldwide are currently using public (66%) or private cloud (68%) for more than two applications, according to the respondents that qualified for our 2014 IDC CloudView Survey
- “Cloud Also” remains the most common strategy for new and replacement IT investments in the public cloud; 61.6% indicated their company’s posture for net new IT services is “cloud also”, and the number is only slightly lower for replacing IT existing functionality (56.8%).
- IT operations are the primary benefactor today from manufacturers’ cloud strategy, and only 30 – 35% of respondents indicate operations, supply chain and logistics, sales, or engineering expect to benefit. And only 41% of respondents believe giving business units more direct control over sourcing their own IT services is a top 4 driver for moving to the cloud.
“Manufacturers are in the midst of a digital transformation, in which 3rd platform technologies are absolutely essential to the way they do business and in the products and services they provide to their customers. Consequently, a strategic approach to adopting cloud is absolutely essential,” said Kimberly Knickle, research director of IDC Manufacturing Insights. “Because of cloud’s tremendous value in making IT resources available to the business based on business terms –speed, cost, and accessibility- manufacturers must ensure that the line of business and IT management work together in defining their requirements.”
