Find the full report here: http://bit.ly/29z1228 Is trust in the cloud important? Based on recent EIU survey findings, it appears so. When organisations exhibit higher levels of trust in the cloud, there is a substantial and positive correlation with a wide range of business outcomes. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if users don’t trust the cloud because they don’t understand its attributes, it will be a less effective tool for them. This report, sponsored by Google, assesses how far along businesses around the world are on the cloud progression and trust curve. Survey findings are based on a 10-country, multi-industry survey of 452 senior executives, as well as interviews with cloud experts.

1. Sponsored by
Trust in cloud
technology and
business performance
Reaping benefits from the cloud
A report from The Economist Intelligence Unit

2. © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 20161
Trust in cloud technology and business performance:
Reaping benefits from the cloud
Preface 2
e findings 3
ntroduction 4
rust in the cloud correlates ith better performance results 6
igher trust le els correlate ith organisational transformation 9
rust does not emerge organicall o to build it 11
onclusion 14
ppendi ur e results 15
Contents

3. © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 20162
Trust in cloud technology and business performance:
Reaping benefits from the cloud
Trust in cloud technology and business
performance is an conomist ntelligence nit
report sponsored b oogle that
e plores lin s bet een cloud use cloud trust
and organisational performance t offers
insights to e ecuti es na igating the e ol ing
and nebulous orld of the cloud as it gro s in
scope and scale
or this report a ten countr multi industr
sur e of senior e ecuti es and
inter ie s ith e perts assess ho far along
organisations across the orld are on the
cloud progression and trust cur e ith the
goal of better understanding the role of trust
in the conte t of rapid cloud adoption
n a separate series of uestions the sur e
also measures ho respondents organisations
fare is is their peers on arious financial
and non financial performance metrics
ranging from profit for pri ate sector firms to
inno ation to sectoral leadership for all
he findings and ie s in this report do not
necessaril represent the ie s of the sponsor
he author as aul ielstra arol n helan
as the editor and na erenguer as the
anal st
Interviewees
he report includes insights from a global
cohort of cloud e perts e ould li e to
than all the indi iduals ho participated
● r aid abet co chair loud rust or ing
roup loud ecurit lliance
● r orbert lein ohann chief information
officer iemens
● uilherme ru chief information officer
ilson ons roup
Preface

4. © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 20163
Trust in cloud technology and business performance:
Reaping benefits from the cloud
● loud based technolog alread ma es up
a si eable portion of corporate and
go ernment s stems ith of enterprise
currentl based on this technolog this
figure ill li el gro to b
● rust in cloud technolog ho e er hile
also gro ing remains muted ith onl
of sur e respondents indicating er high
trust in the cloud
● his disconnect has important implications
Respondents ho sa their organisation has
higher trust in the cloud also report much
better outcomes on both non financial and
financial success metrics including
re enue profit and share price gro th
than do their peers ho indicate lo er
trust or e ample those ith er high trust
in cloud technolog o erall cite a
profit rise ersus b the lo trust group
● n contrast cloud use alone independent
of trust does not appear to produce these
benefits to nearl the same e tent in some
cases sur e data re eal no statisticall
significant connection bet een usage and
better outcomes
● he relationship bet een trust in cloud
technolog and positi e business outcomes
at high trust organisations appears to be
lin ed to their illingness to foster business
transformations that le erage hat the
cloud offers ut simpl higher cloud trust
appears to facilitate beha ioural and
process change ithin an organisation
● uccessfull de eloping trust appears to
build on the acti e leadership of senior
e ecuti es supporting emplo ees and
functions to do their obs through the cloud
and encouraging them to e periment ith
cloud use to change ho an organisation
operates in a s large and small
e findings
his pril stud is based on a global sur e of senior
e ecuti es from a ide range of functions conducted b
he conomist ntelligence nit and sponsored b oogle
Respondents are e enl distributed across ten de eloped
and de eloping countries ustralia ra il rance
erman ndia apan the etherlands e ealand
the and the he sur e sample is also senior ith
half of those polled in le el positions and the balance
heads of department or abo e he organisations here
the or span a range of si es ith roughl each
emplo ing to to and or more staff
Respondents hail from e uall di erse industries including
communications consumer goods ser ices entertainment
financial ser ices healthcare insurance manufacturing
chemicals media professional ser ices public sector
go ernment retail technolog and telecommunications
Results ere tested for statistical significance at a
confidence le el
About the survey

5. © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 20164
Trust in cloud technology and business performance:
Reaping benefits from the cloud
he cloud s idespread but ar adoption
he cloud s spread through s stems has
been impressi el rapid e en in a orld
inured to the accelerating speed of ne
technolog adoption t is difficult to pinpoint
e actl hen a ne technolog appears but
cloud ser ices sufficientl robust for corporate
use are less than ears old s late as
a global State of the Cloud Survey found that
cloud h pe far out eighed a significant
presence ith fe er than of
organisations full implementing ma or cloud
ser ices at that time 1
ust fi e ears later some cloud use at
organisations is all but uni ersal n the sur e
conducted for this stud of respondents
report use of at least some cloud ser ices his
is consistent ith other recent polls 2
n
business isps of cloud are no e er here
he sur e also sho s that the cloud s
role ithin enterprise is no substantial
oda about of at respondents
mantec 2011 State of the Cloud Survey
ee Right cale Cloud Computing Trends: 2016 State of the Cloud
Survey
organisations is cloud based hose polled
foresee further rapid gro th to b
loud technolog then is a core and
gro ing component of modern s r aid
abet co chair of the loud rust or ing
roup and editor of the loud ecurit
ocument ro ect at industr organisation
loud ecurit lliance puts it hings are
e ol ing rapidl he cloud is almost mature
he idespread impact of the adoption of
cloud technolog is also clear he cloud has
alread helped transform se eral e
desirable attributes at a ma orit of
organisations see chart
oreo er cloud reliabilit is per asi e in
matters of due diligence of those
sur e ed report that the reliabilit of potential
suppliers cloud based has in uenced
purchasing decisions sa this same
consideration has affected partnership
decisions ith other organisations
o e er hile the use and impact of the
Source: Economist Intelligence Unit, 2016.
Complete Somewhat
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Overall profitability (Return on investment)
Collaboration
Time to market
Use of experimentation
Level of agility
Business model
Degree of transformation from the cloud
(% respondents)
ntroduction
e els of cloud
trust are lo
toda ust
of respondents
sa their
organisation
has a er high
le el of trust in
the cloud
o erall

6. © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 20165
Trust in cloud technology and business performance:
Reaping benefits from the cloud
cloud ha e spread remar abl uic l broad
trust in the technolog as a hole3
is less
common lthough ust o er half of
respondents note some increase in
o erall cloud trust in the past three ears ust
report a great rise in confidence in the
cloud otabl almost as man cite a decline
in trust inall the current le el of trust is
lo oda ust of respondents sa their
organisation has a er high le el of trust in
the cloud o erall hirt fi e percent call it
some hat high moderate and lo
hese numbers might simpl be considered
note orth if une pected in light of the
recent uptic in cloud adoption Respondents
ho e er belie e that concern about the
cloud is e cessi e ith sa ing that
current le els of trust are belo hat cloud
technolog merits
r abet also points to a disconnect
bet een cloud trust and usage hen cloud
computing started to gather momentum
technolog companies had an opportunit to
pro ide education he sa s he did not do
that hings ha e been mo ing fast and that
he sur e in uired about current and changing le els of trust in
the cloud o erall and in its abilit to pro ide or protect securit
pri ac ser ice reliabilit data accessibilit scalabilit pro ider
support cost targets and greater agilit s figures for each of
these separate attributes in e er case closel mirror the o erall
results for clarit and bre it this report focuses on figures for
o erall trust
has created some misunderstanding
ut since cloud adoption has been so
rapid is this undul lo le el of trust
important ther studies on the effects of trust
suggest it might be so large bod of
research dating bac decades sho s the
mar ed importance of trust both specificall
and as an element of social capital for
economic de elopment and gro th s one
earl author in this field enneth rro rote
er commercial transaction has ithin itself
an element of trust 4
nside organisations
research sho s that trust bet een those at
different le els of seniorit is also a e
predictor of business outcomes mplo ees
perform better hen the both trust corporate
leadership and hen the feel that those
e ecuti es trust them 5
o e plore hat if an thing ma be at
sta e this stud e amines the degree to
hich trust in cloud technolog matters at an
organisational le el ho trust might affect
organisations and from here such trust
arises
ifts and changes Philosophy and Public Affairs
arah ro n et al mplo ee rust and or place
erformance nstitute for the tud of abour or ing aper
abrine alamon and andra Robinson rust that
binds the impact of collecti e felt trust on organi ational
performance Journal of Applied Psychology
Source: Economist Intelligence Unit, 2016.
● Very high
● Somewhat high
● Moderate
● Somewhat low
● Very low
● Increased
greatly
● Increased
somewhat
● No change
● Decreased
Use is everywhere but high trust less
widespread: How high is trust in the
cloud overall among your
organisation's executives?
(% respondents)
Cloud trust's slow growth: How has trust
in the cloud overall changed among
your organisation's executives in the
last 3 years?
(% respondents)
16 15
37
33
13
3529
12
6
er
commercial
transaction
has ithin itself
an element of
trust
enneth rro
ifts and changes
Philosophy and Public
Affairs

7. © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 20166
Trust in cloud technology and business performance:
Reaping benefits from the cloud
mong the sur e s most surprising findings
are the difficulties in identif ing lin s bet een
greater cloud on its o n and higher
performance in a range of business metrics
or the purposes of this stud e place the
self reported e tent of cloud use at
respondents organisations into three buc ets
substantial users those ith more than
of their cloud based moderate users
and those ith or under in the
cloud light users
impl put for some metrics co ered in the
sur e including re enue and profit there is
no statisticall significant difference bet een
these groups here are ho e er differences
bet een substantial and light users hen it
comes to benchmar ing their organisations
ell abo e a erage for the financial
performance efficienc of their organisations
for impro ement in their abilit to inno ate
and for sectoral leadership his does not
pro e a lac of benefits from cloud use alone
but it does suggest that an gains that ma
occur are too ea to identif abo e
bac ground statistical noise
his does not surprise r orbert
lein ohann chief information officer at
iemens a erman based global
engineering compan e notes that the most
important gains from cloud technolog at his
compan are not the har esting of the
lo hanging if still aluable fruit of the cost
sa ings associated ith cloud use he deeper
benefits arise from a change of mindset he
obser es
oes cloud trust matter n this conte t and
rust in the cloud correlates ith better
performance results
Source: Economist Intelligence Unit, 2016.
Very high trust Somewhat high trust Moderate trust Somewhat/Very low trust
3 = No change
4
5 = Much improved
Trust’s non-financial dividends: Changes in performance among organisations with
different levels of overall trust in the cloud over the last year
(% respondents. Mean change since the previous year against trust in use of the cloud overall; 5 = Much improved,
3 = No change, 1 = Much worse)
Agility Risk
management
Ability to
innovate
Intra-organisation
collaboration
Reputation Sector
leadership
eeper cloud
benefits arise
from a
change of
mind set
r orbert lein ohann
chief information
officer iemens

8. © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2016
Trust in cloud technology and business performance:
Reaping benefits from the cloud
based on additional sur e findings it appears
so impl put higher le els of trust ha e a
statisticall significant substantial and positi e
correlation ith a ide range of business
outcomes
his lin is clearl isible for corporate
attributes and capabilities such as an
organisation s leadership position hose
sur e ed ran ho se eral of these attributes
and capabilities had changed in the prior
ear s the chart belo sho s e ecuti es
ho report lo o erall le els of trust in the
cloud at their organisations note close to no
change represented b a score of in an
of the areas co ered o e er as trust
increases so too does self reported
impro ement in these areas oreo er
respondents reporting the highest le els of
trust are rapidl pulling ahead of the pac on
these criteria
hen it comes to the bottom line
differences are star er t the e tremes those
ho sa their organisation has er high cloud
trust report a a erage rise in profits o er
the last ear ersus the impro ement
noted b their lo trust peers
ome of this is predictable s r abet puts
it ac of trust is often about dealing ith the
un no n f ou don t understand hat is in
front of ou and its capabilities ou on t trust
it and b e tension its effecti e use ill
suffer ut another a if users don t trust the
cloud because the don t understand it that
same lac of understanding ill hamper its full
effecti e use
ut e perience appears to be onl part of
the e uation f familiarit ith the technolog
ere the sole factor its increase o er time
ould simpl erase differences in trust and its
attendant ar ing business outcomes
gain sur e findings suggest that trust
does not de elop organicall mong
respondents the lin bet een the e tent of
cloud usage and trust is surprisingl
inconclusi e et een the hea iest and the
er lightest users there are fe statisticall
discernible lin s bet een cloud use and some
trust le els including o erall trust in the cloud
lse here there are none
r lein ohann s or in initiating
idespread cloud use at iemens helps
e plain this apparent disconnect e notes
that the biggest barriers to adoption tend to
be emotional trust in particular eople thin
Source: Economist Intelligence Unit, 2016.
Very high trust Somewhat high trust Moderate trust Somewhat/Very low trust
-2
0
2
4
6
8
10
Improvements over the last year in key economic metrics among groups with different
levels of overall trust in cloud technology
(%)
Revenue Profit Share Price
ac of trust is
often about
dealing ith
the un no n
f ou don t
understand
hat is in front
of ou and its
capabilities
ou on t trust
it
r aid abet co chair
loud rust or ing
roup loud ecurit
lliance

9. © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2016
Trust in cloud technology and business performance:
Reaping benefits from the cloud
rust in cloud
technolog is
strongl lin ed
ith positi e
business
outcomes
that if something is more in our hand it is
more secure he obser es hus for man
opting for a cloud based solution is not an
ob ious efficient choice ostering the
necessar trust is a tric longer term
challenge than simpl introducing ne
technolog alone he adds
rust in cloud technolog then is strongl
lin ed ith positi e business outcomes et
usage alone is not tied strongl to such
outcomes nor on its o n does it ine itabl
generate trust his prompts t o uestions o
does trust boost organisational use of the cloud
and ho can organisations build trust