MeriTalk: 82% of Respondents Say Public Sector Institutions Plan to Increase Cloud Spending in 2017

A new MeriTalk study has found that 82 percent of cloud adopters in the public sector say their agencies or organizations will increase investment in cloud computing platforms in 2017.

The report titled “Destination Cloud: The Federal and SLED Cloud Journey” is underwritten by Avnet Government Solutions and NetApp and is based on an online poll of 300 federal, local, state and education cloud users between July and August, MeriTalk said Monday.

The survey also found that respondents said they plan a twofold increase in the use of cloud platforms in the next five years.

Fifty-five percent of survey participants said they have started to assess cloud platforms as part of their information technology strategy, while 45 percent of respondents said they have begun to evaluate cloud for some applications.

The study noted that nearly 90 percent of IT managers foresee advantages in the adoption of public cloud, while 95 percent of IT executives are hesitant to use public cloud due to security and privacy concerns.

“Cloud adopters are working to understand the rules of the road and want roadside assistance,” said Milo Speranzo, director strategy and compliance at Avnet Government Solutions.

“To get in the fast lane to real cost savings, cloud adopters need clear migration strategies, appropriate cost models, and to prioritize the most critical cloud-ready apps.”

The survey also revealed that cloud adopters in the federal government have adopted cloud for web hosting, backup support and collaboration purposes.

MeriTalk also found that 78 percent of public sector cloud users prefer private cloud to public cloud offerings for apps that manage sensitive data.