SMEs' trust in cloud security growing: Microsoft study

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Saurabh Gupta | 18 May, 2012
Most of the Indian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have experienced noticeably higher levels of security since moving to the cloud, said a study conducted by Microsoft revealed in New Delhi on Thursday.

According to a new Microsoft study in five geographies, including India, SMEs are gaining significant IT security benefits from using the cloud.

The study shows that 64 percent of Indian companies have experienced noticeably higher levels of security since moving to the cloud. In addition, 52 percent say they spend less time worrying about the threat of cyber attacks. Indian SMEs using the cloud also spend 72 percent less time each week managing security than companies not using the cloud. They are also 22 times more likely to have reduced what they spend on managing security as a percentage of overall IT budget.

"There's a perception that security is a barrier to cloud adoption," said Adrienne Hall, general manager, Microsoft Trustworthy Computing, "Yet when companies embrace and invest in cloud services, they find the benefits far outweigh previous concerns."

Time and money spent managing security prior to using cloud services is being re-invested by SMEs to grow their business and be more competitive. The survey shows that, in India 61 percent of SMEs that use the cloud said they were able to employ more staff in roles that directly benefit sales or business growth; 63 percent invest in more product development or innovation; and 62 percent experienced improved agility in being to increase and decrease IT capacity when needed.

Over half of those surveyed (64 percent) said that using the cloud enabled them to add new products and services that benefit their business more quickly and securely. 52 percent said the cloud made it easier for them to scale their business to explore new markets. "Any solution that helps SMEs' bottom line has to be good for them and the economy," said Ryan Brock, vice president of Worldwide SME Cloud & Channels at Access Markets International Partners.

"When it comes to security, the cloud offers SMEs a level of expertise, specialist resources and investment that they cannot hope to match. This translates into cost and time savings and better protection against cyber threats, which gives them the freedom to innovate and grow their business," he added.

The study, commissioned by Microsoft and conducted by research company comScore, polled companies with between 100 and 250 computers PCs in the U.S., India, Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong. For the purpose of this research, cloud users were defined as companies that used a cloud service via a subscription model.