Cloud Computing Leaders: Google, Microsoft, and ACS

May 28, 2012 3 Comments

The “cloud” is a popular topic in IT circles. So we decided to examine how much it will affect companies and how prepared technology vendors are to satisfy those changing customer demands. During January 2012, we asked 800 IT professionals from companies with at least $500 million in annual revenues two questions about cloud computing:

  • Cloud importance: To what degree will the shift to cloud computing influence your company’s IT strategy over the next three years? (Note: 79% of IT professionals say it will have a significant influence)
  • Cloud capabilities: Given your company’s plans for cloud computing, how would you rate the cloud computing capabilities of the IT vendors that you interact with compared with where they need to be?

To fully understand how prepared tech vendors are to meet their client’s changing IT needs for cloud computing, Temkin Group created the Cloud Readiness Index (CRI), a measure of where vendors are in their cloud capabilities compared with the needs of their customers. The CRI takes the cloud importance results and divides it by the cloud capability results as follows:

Here is the Cloud Readiness Index data for 60 tech vendors. Google, Microsoft’s business applications, and ACS are on top of 15 tech vendors in the “leading” category. At the other end of the spectrum, Autodesk, Check Point, and CGI are on the bottom of 25 tech vendors in the “lagging” category.
You can download the data from this post in an Excel spreadsheet for $195. The file includes detailed data for the Cloud Readiness Index as well as details for Cloud Importance and Cloud Capabilities. The spreadsheet includes the data for the 60 tech vendors listed in this post as well as for 28 other tech vendors with smaller sample sizes.

 The bottom line: Tech vendors need to meet their client’s cloud needs

Filed under Customer experience, Tech Vendors Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

About Bruce Temkin, CCXP
I'm an experience (XM) management catalyst; helping organizations improve results by engaging the hearts and minds of their employees, customers, and partners. I enjoy researching and speaking about these topics. I lead the Qualtrics XM Institute, which is the world's best job. We're igniting a global community of XM Professionals who are inspired and empowered to radically improve the human experience. To achieve this goal, my team focuses on thought leadership, training, and community building. My work is driven by a set of fundamental beliefs: 1) Everything starts and ends with human beings, so you need to understand how people think, feel, and behave; 2) XM is a discipline that needs to be woven throughout an organization's entire operating fabric; and 3) Building the XM discipline requires a combination of culture, competency, and technology.

3 Responses to Cloud Computing Leaders: Google, Microsoft, and ACS

  1. Steve says:
    June 21, 2012 at 3:27 pm

    I respectfully disagree with your ratings of Microsoft. Their Assure customer service is non-existtent.

    For my personal (home) use, I have been treated worse than a criminal by Microsoft Customer Support and their Executive team once I escalated. My details are at http://www.myrantsandraves.com/

    I have gotten nowhere after (literally) 20 years of being a loyal customer.

    Thanks,

    Steve

    Reply
    • Bruce Temkin says:
      June 21, 2012 at 8:44 pm

      Steve: Thanks for sharing your thoughts. This research, which examines feedback on cloud computing from IT professionals at large companies, is not related in any way to Microsoft’s personal/home service.

      Reply
      • Steve says:
        June 21, 2012 at 10:19 pm

        I also have experience with a corporate account with Assure. Their service is no better. I have been a loyal fan of Microsoft since DOS 3.0. The last three months have certainly changed that.

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