Brightsolid, the Scottish managed hybrid cloud services company, has identified that a significantly increased number of Scottish businesses intend to add public cloud platforms into their technology infrastructure.
In a study of businesses in Scotland conducted between November 2019-January 2020, it was revealed that more and more Scottish businesses intend to trial public cloud environments and create hybrid infrastructures, with the goal of achieving cost, efficiency and environmental benefits. AWS will see the most significant influx in customers – with an increase of 350%, whilst Microsoft Azure will also see a large rise with an expected 210% increase of those using their public cloud than do today.
Elaine Maddison, CEO at Brightsolid, commented: “Cloud adoption in Scotland continues to be high on the agenda for businesses. Our survey last year found that almost three quarters (71%) of Scottish businesses had adopted the cloud, with 50% of those intending to implement a hybrid cloud approach, using a combination of private and public cloud platforms to best fit their needs. Our research this year highlights the extent to which the public cloud is being adopted in Scotland, as it becomes increasingly accepted as a core part of technology infrastructure. It is also encouraging to see that hyperscale public cloud providers will continue to see gains – with AWS expected to see the greatest of these.”
The research also considered the impact and benefit of cloud on Scottish organisations, with the study finding the most important businesses outcomes include:
- data security (97%)
- cost reduction (86%)
- environmental improvements (75%)
- innovation (71%)
- business growth (69%)
The research went on to find that businesses are calling on the support and expertise of external providers – like a managed service provider (MSP) – to assist with security and compliance (89%), ensuring cost optimisation (83%) and threat and vulnerability management (81%).
Jon Gasparini, CTO at Brightsolid, added: “It is unsurprising that security in the cloud and cost remain a top priority for Scottish businesses. According to Police Scotland, cyber security breaches increased 215% from 2018-2019. As a result, it is vital that all businesses ensure they have the appropriate technical and commercial controls in place to protect the systems and data they host in the cloud. By working with an MSP that has the relevant security credentials, control framework and monitoring procedures in place – such as a security operations centre (SOC) and disaster recovery process – businesses can have peace of mind that they and their data are protected while at the same time are afforded a service that provides them with value.”