Home featured Business Tech Cloud Digital Business Tech On cloud nine: 9 arguments for the cloud Guest Author June 3, 2015 The cloud is no longer a buzzword: in fact, it is already fast becoming mainstream for companies worldwide. From healthcare to tourism, logistics and mechanical engineering, there is no doubt that the cloud is rapidly gaining popularity amongst midsized companies across every sector. According to IDC , total public IT cloud services spending in Australia is expected to exceed A$1.7 billion in 2018, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.2 per cent – approximately eight times the rate of the overall IT services market. Indeed, in today’s increasingly hyper-connected world, questions around the effective deployment of the cloud have never been more central to the future of every company than now. While there are many benefits that can be gleaned via the use of cloud, here are nine core arguments that can certainly help convince key decision-makers to make the transition. Cost Efficiency Due to the heavy investment costs that come with deploying the latest technologies, it is a widely acknowledged fact that many Australian companies are still being held back by legacy systems. Yet, failures caused by use of the old hardware actually create the need for larger investments to replace the malfunctioning components. Furthermore, studies have also shown that employees have the tendency to lose productivity and efficiency while working on slower IT systems. In fact according to an Ernst &Young report, some 35 per