Cloud implementation costs higher than expected.

Cloud adoption is more complicated and fraught with problems than many businesses and IT executives originally anticipated, according to a research report from KPMG.

One-third of IT executives found costs related to implementation were higher than expected, while 31% indicated that the process of integrating existing IT architecture with new cloud services was creating challenges, according to KPMG's The cloud takes shapereport.

The implementation challenges are highlighted at a time when most organisations are shifting from planning their cloud strategies to using cloud computing services.

But despite newer challenges and concerns, the uptake of cloud services is set to double in 2013, according to the audit and advisory firm.

Cloud’s benefits, such as lower capital expenditure and faster time to market, mean the use of cloud is genuinely dominating boardroom planning, said KPMG. Among those firms that have implemented cloud services, 70% claimed to have seen cost savings and higher levels of productivity.

About 42% of UK organisations said that at least one-fifth of their total IT spend in the next 12 months will focus on cloud services, compared with just 20% in 2012.

UK organisations are using the cloud for services such as customer care and human resources functions, but not for running mission-critical applications and workloads.

Source: ComputerWeekly