What with all the hype surrounding the cloud, it would be a shock to discover that the majority of businesses still tend to shy away from it. Yet that’s exactly what’s happening in Europe, according to a new survey from analysts IDC which shows most European IT departments aren’t yet ready to embrace a cloudy future.

IDC’s CloudTrack survey found that European firms had low confidence about their readiness to move to a cloud-based strategy. One of the main reasons for this is a lack of suitably qualified staff capable of supporting cloud projects, cited by 56 percent of European IT departments. In addition, some 61 percent of organizations said they were struggling with the skills needed to evaluate and negotiate contracts with cloud service providers. Meanwhile, more than 70 percent said they’re still learning to make effective use of automation and self-service tools.

“The use of cloud computing as an increasingly business-critical technology is quickly changing how companies and institutions evaluate, procure, and deploy IT assets,” says Carla Arend, program director of IDC’s Cloud Practice. “However, the effective use of automation, self-service, and orchestration tools remains the biggest challenge for IT organizations, while accurately defining costs and implementing chargeback models is a struggle in the business and IT relationship. The transition to cloud computing requires change throughout the organization — in people, process, and technology”.

IDC interviewed a cross-section of both IT and non-IT staff at the director level or above in 304 European organizations. The research did say that cloud can drive business innovation and competitive advantage. Some 41% of respondents use cloud to gain a business advantage, leaving 59% of European organisations not able to take cloud projects beyond the level of IT infrastructure projects. The real benefits of cloud projects, says IDC, will only be realised if they are used to drive business innovation and competitive advantage.

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