CFOs See Value in Cloud Computing, Which Open Source Platforms Can Boost

From staffers in the IT organizations at many enterprises to departmental-level workers, cloud computing deployments are a hot topic. Businesses of all sizes are managing public and private cloud deployments and apps, and gaining efficiencies from them. But how does the average CFO feel about cloud computing? Do CFOs even understand the cloud? Google recently sponsored a study of 800 CFOs to find answers to these questions. Here are the details.

"We recently surveyed over 800 CFOs in the United States and Europe," says a post on the Google Enterprise Blog, "and we learned that almost 81% of our U.S. respondents say that they think completely implementing cloud technology would improve employee productivity, and 71% say it would reduce the time required to bring new products and services to market."

Clearly, CFOs are aware that cloud computing can make business processes more efficient, but these executives are in the business of saving money and optimizing business spending, so what do they think about the potential cost savings that cloud computing introduces? The post notes this:

"Some of the benefits CFOs highlight include significant capital and operational savings, better security, and productivity gains that come from the ability to work from any device or together with others using tools like Google Docs...Even self-described 'archetypal CFOs' highlighted their hopes for improved productivity when employees can work from home or elsewhere, as well as reduced costs when moving to a service model. Furthermore, 69% of surveyed CFOs in Europe believe that cloud computing increases the IT department’s ability to innovate."

You can watch a Google-sponsored webcast featuring much more detail on this study here. As we've noted many times, open source cloud computing platforms are emerging as disruptive, game-changing platforms, and they can help boost the cost savings that the CFOs in Google's study are focused on. As Red Hat and other companies craft their cloud computing strategies, they'll be taking the cost-savings mantra direct to CFOs.