Quocirca’s Future of Work 2025 research reveals how cloud maturity is impacting printing and digitisation plans. The report discusses the extent of the cloud opportunity and how the objectives and strategy of Cloud Leaders differ from that of those companies that are more inclined to keep IT infrastructure and management in-house.
Cloud adoption plans accelerate
Cloud adoption has accelerated as organisations have navigated the impact of the global pandemic. By 2025, 61% of businesses expect to be fully or mostly using the cloud for their IT infrastructure, up from 27% in 2022. This represents a rapid transition, in just a three-year period, and shows that the increase in adoption speed prompted by the pandemic is being sustained over the long term.
It also indicates the scale and immediacy of the opportunity for providers of cloud-based solutions and services. With hybrid working here to stay, the “work anywhere” culture means businesses need to support employees with secure, flexible, collaborative technology. Cloud deployments are critical to achieving success with this approach enabling companies to reduce operational costs and improve efficiencies.
Twenty percent of Quocirca’s study participants can be termed Cloud Leaders, expecting their IT infrastructure to be fully in the cloud by 2025. At the other end of the scale are the 16% of Cloud Laggards, who anticipate their business will remain fully on-premise. In the middle are Cloud Beginners (24%) who expect to have some cloud infrastructure in place, but will remain mostly on-premise, and Cloud Progressives – the largest cohort at 41% – who expect to be mostly, but not fully, cloud-based.
Attitudes to print and digitisation
Quocirca’s study shows that understanding a company’s cloud maturity offers insight into attitudes around print and digitisation.
Cloud leaders are most likely to expect a decline in print volume by 2025. Overall, 49% of Cloud Leaders expect a decline in print volumes by 2025 compared to pre-pandemic levels, compared to 28% of Cloud Laggards. Cloud Leaders are also more likely to be prioritising digitisation within their companies. Cloud Leaders are more likely to say digitisation of paper-based processes will be extremely or very important to their organisation (79%) by 2025, compared to 63% of Cloud Beginners.
While overall, sustainability (36%) and cost savings (33%) are the top two factors driving the digitisation of paper-based processes, this rises to 45% and 51% amongst Cloud Leaders.
Cloud Leaders are more likely to have embraced flexible working and are more demanding of their MPS providers. They have higher expectations of service quality, cost reduction, and support for hybrid working. They expect suppliers to act as strategic partners to IT and line of business. Effectively, they require a service that goes a long way beyond hardware and software provision and optimisation. It is not surprising, therefore, that such organisations are forming the closest relationships with IT service-centric suppliers.
What this means for MPS providers
Quocirca’s analysis underlines the fact that print industry leaders must adapt their offerings to the diverse needs of cloud buyers.
Cloud maturity should be assessed as a key indicator of the best approach to customers. Leaders will expect MPS providers to deliver comprehensive solutions and consultancy on a wide range of issues, including workplace efficiency, security and sustainability. Organisations that are less mature on their journey to the cloud will be receptive to solutions that solve immediate challenges and also provide a road map to help them move quickly and effectively to more advanced stages.
Access more analysis and recommendations in Quocirca’s Future of Work 2025 Spotlight Report ‘How cloud maturity will impact print and digital convergence in the workplace’.
