This comprehensive paper from the Cloud Industry Forum has over 30 pages of insightful research data that covers the latest UK cloud adoption trends, how organisations are building the business case for cloud, the inhibitors for cloud adoption and future trends for 2016 and beyond.

1. UK Cloud adoption snapshot & trends
for 2016
Cloud Industry Forum Market Research results
May 2015
Cloud Industry Forum 2015 research results1

2. Demographics
Cloud Industry Forum 2015 research results2
50
100
100
Fewer than 20 employees
21-200 employees
More than 200 employees
50
200
Public sector
Private sector
300
250
250
250
250
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
…size …sector …by year
250 IT decision makers were interviewed in March
2015, split in the following ways...
Figure D1: “How many employees work
in your organisation?”, asked
of all respondents (250
respondents)
Figure D2: Analysis of the respondents’
organisations’ sector type,
asked of all respondents (250
respondents)
Figure D3: Number of respondents per
year

3. Four areas of research data:
1: Use of Cloud-based Services
2: Cloud Inhibitors
3: Cloud Benefits
4: Future Trends 2016 & Beyond
Cloud Industry Forum 2015 research results3

4. 1: Use of Cloud-based Services
Cloud Industry Forum 2015 research results4

5. All time high for cloud use
Cloud Industry Forum 2015 research results5
The increase in cloud use among
respondents’ organisations has been
statistically significant each year
This suggests that cloud use is likely
to continue this trend and increase
even further in the future
How many different cloud-based
services do organisations use?
Figure 1: Percentage of respondents reporting that their company has any
hosted or cloud-based services, by year. Asked of all respondents
(300 in 2011; 250 in all other years)
Cloud use is at an all time high
with 84% of respondents’
organisations using it in 201553%
61%
69%
78%
84%
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015

6. Number of cloud-based services used
Cloud Industry Forum 2015 research results6
Figure 2: “How many different cloud-based services does your
company use today?” Asked of respondents whose
company has any hosted or cloud-based services in use
today (195 in 2014; 209 in 2015)
Almost four in five (78%) cloud-
using organisations use more
than one cloud-based service
This is an increase on the two thirds
(67%) of organisations who were using
two or more cloud-based services in
2014
Organisations are not only more likely to
be using cloud, they are also more likely
to be using more cloud services
This is likely to continue to increase in
the coming years
Is cloud the primary approach to IT in
organisations?
1 2 3 4 5 or more
9% 8%
7% 7%
16% 20%
35%
43%
32%
22%
2014 2015

7. Primary approach to IT
Cloud Industry Forum 2015 research results7
On-premise is no longer the primary
approach that it was in 2014
Organisations are more likely to be
using a hybrid approach in 2015
Although organisations are migrating
to cloud more than ever (figure 1),
there is still a desire to keep the
approach on-premise to some extent
But will organisations ever move their
entire IT estate to the cloud?
Figure 3: “Would you describe your primary approach to IT as
being:” Asked of all respondents (250 in each year)
Six in ten (60%) respondents’
organisations primary
approach to IT involves cloud
to an extent
On-premise In the cloud Hybrid (a mix of the above)
41%
45%
10%
15%
48%
40%
2014 2015

8. Moving everything to the cloud
Cloud Industry Forum 2015 research results8
Figure 4: “Do you foresee that you will ever move your entire IT
estate to remotely hosted cloud services?” Asked of all
respondents (250 in each year)
Half (50%) of respondents think
that their entire IT estate will
move to the cloud at some point
Respondents are more likely to think this
move is feasible this year compared to
2014 (50% compared to 45% in 2014)
However, half remain adamant in 2015
that specific applications and services
will remain on-premise
There may always be a level of concern
holding organisations back from moving
everything to the cloud
Will cloud adoption increase in the next
12 months?
55%
50%
16%
16%
22%
19%
8%
16%
2014 2015
Yes: as soon as practical
Yes: based on the operational refresh of servers and applications
Yes: although the cloud proposition is not ready for us to make this move yet
No: we intend to keep specific applications and services on-premise

9. Cloud use in the next 12 months
Cloud Industry Forum 2015 research results9
Figure 5: Analysis of respondents who expect their
organisation’s adoption of cloud services to increase
over the next 12 months, by year. Asked of
respondents whose company has any hosted or cloud-
based services in use today ([X] respondents)
Figure 6: Analysis of respondents who anticipate cloud services
being adopted by their organisation within 12 months,
by year. Asked of respondents whose company does
not currently have any hosted or cloud-based services
in use today ([X] respondents)
From 2012 to 2014 there was a slow decline
in respondents who anticipated cloud
adoption to increase in their organisation
However, this has increased in 2015 (70%)
suggests more confidence than in the
previous two years that their organisation will
expand their cloud use in the next 12 months
Of those without cloud now, only the
minority (12%) anticipate cloud services to
be adopted in the next 12 months
There may be a slowdown in the initial
uptake of cloud services in 2016. However,
for organisations already using cloud the
number of different services is likely to
increase
73%
76%
68%
64%
70%
2011
[160]
2012
[153]
2013
[172]
2014
[195]
2015
[209]
18%
26%
31%
29%
12%
2011 [140]
2012 [97]
2013 [78]
2014 [55]
2015 [41]

10. 2: Cloud inhibitors
Cloud Industry Forum 2015 research results10

11. Cloud Industry Forum 2015 research results11
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hub/general-market-research/cif0014
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12. UK Cloud adoption snapshot & trends
for 2016
CIF - Research results
May 2015
Cloud Industry Forum 2015 research results12