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Cloud Computing in Middle of Slight Uptick in IT Spending

Joshua Hoffman
January 6, 2015

Cloud computing, despite its maturation over the past year, is still capable of garnering plenty of headlines. In fact, the cloud may still only be in its early stages, as many IT leaders expect to have cloud-related plans taking up a significant chunk of their spending in the next year. A recent Computerworld study found that IT budgets are expected to grow by an average of approximately4.3 percent during 2015.

This growth is modest enough that the news summarized it by pointing out that IT budgets will remain fairly flat in the coming year, but where organizations are spending their money is changing. The survey found that cloud projects have emerged as the top priority for IT departments. Furthermore, this immediate emphasis on the cloud will likely be followed by even more disruption moving forward.

"Business process mappingcould prove essential as companies try to make a transition toward analytics."

Where is the cloud progressing for 2015?

According to the Computerworld study, the focus of cloud efforts will be on creating new revenue opportunities and improving services. A Forbes report predicted that data analytics will dominate the cloud space in 2015.

Whichever side your company falls on, increased dependence on the cloud will likely lead to significant demand for a cloud application platform that can help you organize app deployment through your user base and ensure processes flow smoothly between various apps and services. Business process management tools are increasingly being designed with this application-focused operational environment in mind. The importance of this move is clearly evident if you are thinking about using the cloud for revenue creation and service improvement, but what about analytics?

Cloud computing, analytics and BPM

The Forbes report predicted that 2015 will be a year when organizations devote more resources into gathering insightful data about what customers are doing and putting that information into action. This could drive cloud investments as companies strive to store all of that data and deploy a wide range of apps and services that can help users turn that data into knowledge and take action based on the information.

Cloud Applications

Cloud computing is set to disrupt business processes in 2015.

Business process mapping could prove essential as companies try to make this transition toward analytics. Data is only valuable if users can leverage it in a timely manner, and having information even a few seconds ahead of competitors can give organizations an edge. Effectively mapping processes empowers companies to automate collaboration tasks and get the right information to users through the best app possible and at the right time. The result is new opportunities to optimize operations and streamline decision making.