KPMG: Implementation and integration as the biggest challenges of cloud adoption

By Rob Starr, Content Manager, Big4.com

According to a report from KPMG International, Business and IT leaders across the globe are finding cloud adoption to be more complicated than many had originally anticipated. According to The Cloud Takes Shape, nearly 33 percent of all executives surveyed say that cloud implementation costs have been higher than they expected, and a similar percentage say that integrating cloud services with their existing IT infrastructure has been particularly difficult.

Despite these emerging complexities, executives still believe that the benefits of cloud adoption far outweigh any growing pains they experience through implementation, the survey shows. In part, this is because organizations are shifting their focus away from pure cost reduction objectives to instead focus on achieving the transformational benefits of cloud.

While cost reduction is still the primary reason for cloud adoption according to nearly half of respondents, 28 percent said that the speed at which they are able to migrate to cloud is important, as is cloud’s ability to enable faster entry into new markets (27 percent) and business process transformation (22 percent) according to KPMG.

Rick Wright, Global Cloud Enablement Program Leader and a Principal with KPMG in the US comments:

“One of the most important lessons uncovered by this research is that business process redesign needs to be done in tandem with cloud adoption if organizations hope to achieve the full potential of their cloud investments,” he said. “Executives have found that simultaneous process redesign is central to addressing the complexities that often arise in the implementation and operational phases of cloud adoption.