CDW-G has announced the results of its first Cloud Computing Tracking Poll, which surveyed 1,200 IT professionals in government, education, business, and healthcare about their use of cloud computing.
About 28 percent of those organizations reported being cloud computing users, with K-12 falling square into that average at 27 percent. Higher education and large business lead the pack reporting 34 and 37 percent usage, respectively.
The most common cloud computing application for K-12 schools is Google Docs, with 57 percent of those surveyed reporting use, followed by Gmail, with 39 percent.
Perhaps surprisingly, while 84 percent of organizations surveyed who have moved to a cloud computing application such as Google Docs or Gmail have reduced expenses, only 36 percent of those surveyed said yes to the question “Do cloud applications cost less than traditional applications?” I wonder what accounts for this discrepancy—whether it is just a misconception on the part of IT professionals or whether they find that although they may save dollars, cloud computing apps take more staff time to maintain and manage, a challenge I’ve heard from many school district IT staff who have moved to such resources.