Report: Mid-market companies grow more comfortable with cloud security risks
Mid-market companies are becoming more comfortable with the security risks that come with cloud adoption, a new Deloitte report finds.
After surveying 500 companies with annual revenues ranging from $100 million to more than $1 billion, Deloitte found that the biggest factor influencing the pace of adoption of cloud-based services is integration of existing applications and infrastructure -- more than 25 percent of companies said so.
Slightly fewer respondents (24 percent) said that security risks were the biggest factor. Last year, as many as 35 percent of respondents said it was the biggest factor. "This year, such concerns took a big step back," the report says. Additionally, mid-market companies are much more focused on generating greater "speed to value" from cloud investments.
That doesn't mean companies don't recognize the security concerns -- more respondents this year said they've stepped up efforts to train employees on information security matters, and there was a "significant increase" in the use of encryption, Deloitte said. Additionally, 55 percent of companies said improving information security is the primary driver for technology investment.
As mid-market companies mature in their use of technology, CIOs and CTOs are taking more of a strategic leadership role, the survey found. Nearly half (49 percent) of technology adoption is led by IT department leaders, compared to only 36 percent in 2015.
The survey, like ZDNet's special report on AR and VR, found widespread use of augmented reality or virtual reality. Nearly 90 percent of respondents said they use some from of AR or VR in their business. The plurality, at 42 percent, use it to provide virtual demos or interactive tools to improve employee and customer interactions with their products and services.