ECM is on Cloud Nine

The Cloud has been around for a while now, but only recently have ECM users been more accepting of the idea that their information won’t be stored onsite.  Recently, Hyland Software has released an interesting infographic that details 7 things that everyone should know about ECM in the Cloud.  Here is a summary of what Hyland found:

1. 46% of people believe that content management will be “cloud by choice” within three years.  This statistic tells us that the cloud is coming whether we like it or not.  Even more mind-blowing, 42% have already implemented strategic plans to use cloud content management.  With improvements in security, cost reduction, and ultimately more available space these numbers represent the positives that the cloud can bring to organizations.
2. There seems to be a distinct difference between the users who like the cloud…and those who do not.  While business users and consultants are fans of what the cloud can bring to an organization, it seems that IT & Records Managers have not jumped on the Cloud bandwagon… yet.  With advancements being made daily it’s hard to say whether this will remain true in all of 2014, but for now, facts are facts.
3. The top three reasons that cloud adoption has been lagging are as follows: perceived security risk, need to demonstrate compliance, and integration issues with existing LOB Apps.  Fortunately, 70% of those who already use the Cloud for content management have been trouble free since their switch.  Even more important, of the 30% that reported issues, 26% of those indicated that they only dealt with minor incidents.
4. When choosing Cloud content management the top five factors that were most important to organizations and executives were: security, cost, ease of use, service levels, and data locale.
5. Did the location matter when choosing when/if a company would move their content to the cloud?  Due to national rules and regulations of information security, higher percentages showed that the locale of cloud-based data centers was either very important or important in ECM decisions.
6. In current usage, the most common ECM applications used in the cloud were: records management, scanning & capture, human resources, and AP/AR.
7. In case you didn’t believe us already, the cloud is here and it looks like it will continue to grow.  45% of organizations plan to spend the same or more on cloud services within the next year.  What will this mean for cloud advancements, costs, and services?  We’ll soon find out.