The number of public sector organisations using the cloud is rising steadily, if not spectacularly, the Cloud Industry Forum, with 11 per cent increased clouds usage over the last nine months.

The independent study of the latest cloud adoption rates showed that of the 300 UK-based organisations surveyed, 53 per cent are utilising cloud services in some form. The private sector continues to lead the public sector with 56 per cent and 49 per cent respectively.

Of the 47 per cent not using cloud services, 18 per cent said that they anticipate adopting them in the next year and a further 17 per cent believed they would adopt cloud services at some point in the future but did not know when.

The other key findings that emerged from the research were cloud project were commonly run by the head of IT, with 67 per cent of respondents, and that flexibility was seen as the main driving force behind organisations’ move to the cloud, with 46 per cent.

Andy Burton, chairman of the Cloud Industry Forum, said: “While the marketing of the industry has been primarily focussing on the cost savings afforded by cloud migration, the research proves again that initial adoption is usually driven by non financial activity where the organisation values the flexible attribute of a cloud service over on-premise solutions.

“That said, financial benefits are being achieved and do drive further adoption from companies already using the cloud, but it is the agility given to businesses to deliver new services; access technology quickly; and, to offer solutions that they did not already have that has driven initial adoption.”

The Cloud Circle has recently completed its own survey of over 250 senior business and IT personnel which identifies the latest trends in the cloud computing industry. The survey will form the basis of our 2nd Industry Trends Report, focussed around the practicalities of moving to the cloud, which is due for release next Thursday (24 November).