A new study commissioned by British IT services firm BT Engage IT and conducted by independent research agency Vanson Bourn among UK companies indicates that 70% of CIOs felt that cloud computing and virtualization technology have had the biggest positive impact on businesses in 2011. Mobile devices were ranked a distant second with 13% of the vote on how they affected businesses for the better. Not surprisingly, as explored in the aforementioned article, CIOs of smaller companies with between 1,000 and 3,000 employees were more enamored of cloud computing, with 76% voting for the technology.

The results of this survey clearly shows that cloud computing has transcended from being a mere buzzword to a practical solution with tangible results to show. John Thornhill, CEO of BT Engage IT, said as much when he remarked, “The industry has been talking about them for a number of years – and they’ve become business, rather than just technology terms – but companies are now using these technologies in earnest.” In fact, he suggested that the hype over cloud computing and virtualization is almost over because the technology is now so commonplace.

Mr. Thornhill also commented on the reasons behind the results, reasons that have earlier been proposed on this very site. He said that cost savings, productivity gains and levels of customer service could be factors which have improved within businesses that have switched to using virtualization methods. “Whatever it means for companies, it’s clear that cloud and virtualization are maturing as technologies, and now delivering real business benefits,” he stated.

Gartner had predicted, at the start of 2011, that cloud hosting and virtualization would be the top priorities for CIOs that year. With the results of going on the cloud getting a resounding thumbs-up from CIOs, cloud computing will continue to remain the epicenter of attention.

It is interesting to note that the research agency that conducted this study under the aegis of BT Engage IT, Vanson Bourn, is the same entity that had been commissioned by CA Technologies to determine how cloud computing had impacted the role of the CIO in the organization.

source: CloudTweaks