UK SMEs are not interested in cloud technology, mostly down to them lacking knowledge about what it can do.
Numbers crunched by Close Brothers have revealed that 58 percent of UK SMEs do not used cloud-based computing for software, storage or other remote services.
Not only are that many not using the cloud for those purposes but a third of SMEs claimed that they did not use hosted technology at all.
At the heart of the problem is that the SMEs did not trust their data would be safe. Other hurdles included a belief by some that moving to the cloud would be too time intensive and 16 percent blamed a lack of cash.
Close Brothers survey found that 73 percent of senior SME decision makers did not understand the cloud, with 10 per cent knowing nothing at all.
Those customers with an annual turnover of less than £250,000 were most likely to have problems and would benefit from resellers guiding them through the process.
David Thomson, CEO of Close Brothers Invoice Finance said that SMEs appear to still be at the early stages of adopting cloud technology, but these businesses could gain the most.
“Companies should consider how virtual servers could be used in their organisation and what kind of system might best fit their specific requirements”, he said.
“The cloud offers a number of benefits for smaller businesses, including increased storage space, remote access to data, and reduced costs. It can also protect against a loss event as companies no longer need to rely on hardcopies of documents, manual back-ups or local infrastructure.”
