According to the research, due to the cloud becoming so deeply embedded in business processes the word itself may soon be no longer required.

Of the 750 IT decision makers, in companies with 250 or more employees across the UK, involved in the research, 26% believed that they won’t be talking about ‘cloud’ by the end of 2025.

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While 56% believe that cloud technology will be so embedded in the enterprise that it will no longer be seen as a separate term.

Citrix also carried out a separate survey of 1,000 young people aged 12-15  in conjunction with this research to identify the next generation’s perspective on cloud. In this survey, 30% of participants didn’t know what the term ‘cloud’ even meant, however, when asked to guess, 83% recognised that it was where they stored their photos and music, while 42% confirmed that they used the cloud to share data, such as photos, music and documents for schoolwork, with friends.

The current state of cloud adoption

According to Citrix, 38% of large businesses in the UK currently store more than half of their data in the cloud. 59% are still managing data on premises.

The majority (89%) of large organisations in the UK agree that cloud is important for their business, while 87%  believe that the key benefit of adopting a cloud infrastructure to be improving productivity.

>See also: The promise of storage and IT infrastructure in 2018

Significantly, 91% have implemented a cloud strategy or plan to put one in place imminently. However, many of these plans are still in their infancy, with only 37% claiming that the plans are “incredibly detailed” and aligned to business objectives.

Security concerns

Despite the increasing use of public and hybrid cloud, security concerns persist. The study shows that 31% of participants are not confident that a public cloud set-up can handle their organisation’s data security, 19% for hybrid cloud set-ups.

Large organisations are the most confident when it comes to private cloud – 88% are quite confident or highly confident that this cloud set-up can handle its data securely.

>See also: How businesses can shield their IoT infrastructure from botnets

Comment

Darren Fields, Regional Director, UK & Ireland at Citrix, said: “Much like BYOD before it, this research indicates that cloud as a term may soon have had its day and be relegated to the buzzword graveyard. This has nothing to do with its relevance in the IT industry but everything to do with the evolution of technology and the ubiquity of cloud services to underpin future ways of working.

“Most IT budget-holders agree that cloud can improve productivity, lower costs, ensure security and optimise performance, as part of a digital transformation agenda. However, there is still more education required to effectively communicate the benefits of cloud services – and there’s still a gap to be bridged between boardrooms and IT decision-makers in relation to this.

“Arguably a level of mistrust and misunderstanding still holds back UK businesses. And it is clear a cultural and educational shake-up is needed for cloud and digital transformation to deliver on its potential. Once this awareness stems from IT to the board and beyond, there should be fewer barriers to hold cloud adoption back.”