CIO, employee cloud knowledge gap grows

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Every company has to worry about the learning curve and knowledge gap that implementing the latest technology will cause among employees and executives. However, as innovations like mobility, VoIP and the cloud become more intertwined with business processes and daily operations, it would seem like the goals of the IT department and the rest of the business are on the same page. However, that is not the case.

According to a new study released by enterprise performance management vendor Host Analytics, when it comes to cloud adoption, the views, goals and expectation of business leaders do not match up with those of CIOs.

The survey asked the question of respondents: What were the reasons that a cloud application was chosen over other options? Several different answers were given and the disparity between the percentage of executives who credited a certain reason was substantial.

For example, one of the answers for implementing the cloud is that it meets compliance requirements better. Fifty-eight percent of CIOs marked that as a reason, while only 14 percent of business executives did. This kind of gap was seen across the board:

  • Cloud offers a competitive advantage: CIOs, 51 percent, Business executives, 13 percent.
  • Always choose the cloud-based application: CIOs, 42 percent, Business executives, 14 percent
  • Better value: CIOs, 53 percent, Business executives, 80 percent
  • Meets company requirements better: CIOs, 53 percent, Business executives, 12 percent

Clearly there is a difference between what tech and non-tech professionals think about the cloud and the benefits it can bring to a company.

Enterprise Irregulars, a business technology blog, broke down the study and drew some conclusions of their own, as well as offered some advice to CIOs on how to close this gap and get everyone on the same page.

"Based on the survey, we can conclude users do not understand that cloud benefits go far beyond lower cost," the article reads. "Both IT departments and software vendors must do a better job educating users on the innovation and business process benefits of the cloud. And, dear CIO, I must delicately note that your staff may also need additional education in this area."

The article goes on to say that the despite the growth in cloud adopting, that gap exists and it is affecting user and IT expectations. Since it is technology-based, there is an opportunity here for CIOs to improve their education programs for business users. The results of the study show a clear warning to every technology executive and they should start evaluating the level in which users are able to understand the actual benefits of the cloud and explain the complex and important issues to business users. Companies that do not do this run the risk of devaluing the value of the IT department and could fail to get the most out of the solution.

This added pressure can be hard for CIO executives to handle. This is where an IT consulting firm that specializes in the cloud can become a valuable resource for any business. Not only can it help explain the business value of the cloud and other solutions to the team, but it can also offer training and continued support for any issues that may arise after the technology is deployed.

From our offices in Dayton, Columbus, Cincinnati and Cleveland, PRO OnCall is your single-source technology consulting service, offering managed IT support, unified communications solutions and on-call IT support.