Claranet exposes customer cloud migration problems

A large number of customers are not in a position to make a smooth transition to the cloud with legacy environments and integration issues holding them back and creating a need for support from channel specialists with the ability to help them join the dots from on-premise to the hosted world.

Around half of users are in a position where they are facing problems and according to Claranet that as ad hoc hybrid models develop the need for quality channel support will continue to rise.

The channel player found that almost three quarters of UK firms are using cloud services but only 18% are happy with the way they have migrated to those hosted applications and just over half felt that they could integrate hosted with existing on-premise solutions.

"We have seen that successful IT leaders are taking a flexible, iterative approach to technology that pays heed to business needs, and selecting the best tool for each job. This bottom-up evolutionary approach removes many of the risks of larger all-encompassing IT projects, which can sometimes be expensive, difficult to coordinate and less responsive to changing business requirements," said Michel Robert, Uk managing director of Claranet.

He added that more customers would be looking for support from their cloud service providers (CSPs) over the next 18 months as they accelerated their moves into the hosted environment.

“CSPs must therefore take a more active and consultative role in helping businesses integrate their services and plot their migration strategies. Increasingly cloud providers need to act more like business consultants, working alongside IT decision-makers to understand the needs of different parts of the organisation. No two migration and integration plans will be the same, so it is important to develop strategic partnerships to achieve the most effective results,” he said.