Rapid growth in software as a service adoption could help cut IT costs, says survey

Nearly nine out of 10 UK IT directors expect to increase their use of on-demand software by 2009, according to research.

Higher spending on virtualisation was also expected by 94 per cent of businesses, with cost reduction cited as the main prority for using virtualisation and software as a service (Saas), said the survey by Colt Telecom.

The study said that businesses were also keen to see improved use of systems capacity and faster rollouts of new technologies.

Server virtualisation is being used by 68 per cent of UK companies, but storage and application virtualisation are less widely favoured.

Reduced power was seen by 66 per cent of respondents as a reason to adopt virtualisation.

While 62 per cent said increased system complexity was their main concern about virtualisation, 70 per cent worried about system performance and 50 per cent were not confident about their in-house skills.

Nearly a third of UK companies see Saas as an attractive option, but security was flagged as a key concern.

"Few organisations have the luxury to completely replace their existing IT infrastructure, or move to a fully on-demand strategy," said Geoff Gilton, head of managed services products at Colt.

"The migration path to a web-centric world is likely to be evolutionary."

The survey was carried out across 13 European countries, with specific focus on financial services, media, government and professional services.