A new survey from IDC has found that more manufacturing companies are adopting cloud computing as a first choice rather than an add-on to their business.
According to last year’s IDC Global Technology and Industry Research Organisation IT Survey, 41 per cent of respondents in the manufacturing sector in the United States said they are currently accessing IT resources via a public cloud.
Of those surveyed, just over a quarter (27 per cent) thought the share of their annual IT budget devoted to cloud services and cloud architecture would increase over the next two years.
Cloud computing is becoming increasingly popular in Australia, with more small businesses enjoying significant benefits from storing their data off-site and accessing it online. There are significant benefits of cloud computing for manufacturers, from managing workloads to keeping accounts up to date.
Businesses and IT organisations rely on cloud technology to increase flexible delivery of IT resources at a relatively low cost.
The IDC survey also found that more than two-thirds of manufacturers around the globe are currently using either public (66 per cent) or private cloud (68 per cent) for more than two wp-contentlications for their business.
“Manufacturers are in the midst of a digital transformation, in which third 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 at IDC Manufacturing Insights.
IDC found that most manufacturing companies believed that cloud computing will become the “de facto standard” for new manufacturing operations over the next 10 years, especially those expanding globally.
IDC Manufacturing Insights predicts that manufacturers will choose private cloud technology to extend their IT capability without bringing up significant data security or cost concerns.
Many accounting software companies in Australia that specialise in software for manufacturing already offer new ways to manage clients and accounts using the latest technology. This includes cloud computing.
