Distribution, retail and hotel sectors to gain more than €233 billion in economic benefit through the adoption of cloud computing by 2015

Distribution, retail and hotel sectors to gain more than €233 billion in economic benefit through the adoption of cloud computing by 2015

New research has found the retail, hotels and distribution sectors stand to benefit most from the roll out of cloud computing services, with more than €233 billion (£197bn) in value expected to be created.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) has revealed new findings in part two of EMC Corporation’s 2011 Cloud Dividend report, focusing on key industry sectors in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.

Cloud computing enables information and technology to be made available to businesses securely, in a scalable manner and as a service – when they need it. This computing and information access model speeds up time-to-market, removes traditional barriers to entry and allows companies to exploit new market opportunities.

The study focused on the three most common cloud computing models today: public cloud, which is controlled by a cloud provider; private cloud, which is controlled internally by an organisation’s own IT team; and hybrid cloud, a combination of the two.

Private and hybrid cloud popular

The billions that the report said would be generated for distribution, retail and hotels – from a combination of accelerated business creation, business development and cost savings – constitutes 31% of the total economic benefit expected to be created across the region, with 77% of the value being derived from private and hybrid cloud solutions.

Oliver Hogan, managing economist at the Cebr, said: “Our research into the impact of cloud computing has uncovered compelling economic benefits attached to the expected and predicted roll-out across various industry sectors. Distribution, retail and hotels are projected to generate the largest returns from cloud deployments despite decreased spending power and commodity price pressures.”

This sector is also set to claim the largest overall share of cloud computing’s economic benefits despite being ranked as only the third or fourth largest contributor to GDP in the five economies. This means the sector could expect a disproportionately large return relative to the importance of the sector to its national economies. As such, distribution, retail and hotels accounted for the largest share of economic benefits in France, Italy, Spain and the UK.

The Cebr predicts future profitability in the sector will largely depend on efficiency rather than volume growth, due to decreased household spending power and rising commodity prices. Cloud computing provides at least one such opportunity for businesses in this sector to take advantage of the highest total net cost savings across all surveyed sectors, equating to €83.3 billion (£70.5bn) by 2015.

IT professionals in key position

Adam Thilthorpe, director of professionalism for the British Computer Society, said: “IT is driving change through our private companies, public sector services and social lives. The benefits extend to wealth creation and employment opportunities for UK Plc. Cloud computing is playing a crucial role in this change which is not limited only to the cutting edge of new companies, but also to how traditional organisations and business models operate.”

Thilthorpe added: “IT professionals not only need to be able to operate in this environment but also need to be able to leverage their knowledge and put it in the context of their organisations.”

The report identified cost savings (CapEx and OpEx) made by companies adopting cloud computing and measured these against macro and business variables, such as business development opportunities; business creation; indirect gross value added (GVA); tax contributions; as well expenditure on cloud services to determine the Euro value of the technology in each country.

The full report can be downloaded from EMC’s website.