Survey: Windstream Analyzes Impact of Cloud Computing

Network and cloud communications business Windstream recently partnered with Oxford Economics to conduct a survey about the impact the cloud is having on U.S. business strategy.

Windstream said it felt it was necessary to get a deeper look into how the cloud affected U.S. companies because such technologies are a large part of its portfolio. Windstream and Oxford Economics collected survey data from 350 senior technology and business executives in the second quarter of 2014 to complete its research, and they found that cloud computing technologies are having a fast-growing and wide-reaching impact on companies' business strategies, innovation, and security concerns.

Matt Preschern, senior vice president and enterprise chief marketing officer at Windstream, spoke about his company's desire to learn more about its customers and the partnership with Oxford Economics.

"Cloud services are an important part of Windstream's product portfolio, and, as such, we felt it was imperative that we understand our audience and what motivates them to move to the cloud," Preschern said. "We teamed with Oxford Economics, a leader in global forecasting and quantitative analysis for business, to make sure the integrity and credibility of the data was of the highest caliber and we'll use the findings to help advise our customers on their best cloud path."

Specifically, the researchers uncovered four distinct themes regarding the impact of cloud computing. First, more than half of survey respondents indicated that, within two years, cloud computing will directly affect their organizations' innovation strategies, and 57 percent said their companies will use the cloud to reach into new geographic markets.

A number of respondents -- two-thirds of those surveyed -- also said cloud technology was helping to improve business value by supporting innovation and customer service. Additionally, 88 percent said cloud technologies were helping them improve collaboration internally.

Regarding security, 76 percent of survey respondents said security was the main concern for their organizations as they migrated to the cloud. This was most prevalent for respondents in the healthcare sector. Finally, trailblazers in the overall marketplace indicated that their current profit margins are higher than their competitors, and they showed that they are likely to continue to be profitable as a result of their early cloud adoption.