Cloud, SaaS Adoption Grows Among Small Businesses: Microsoft

eWeek: According to Microsoft’s “SMB Cloud Adoption Study 2011,” 39 percent of small businesses expect to be paying for at least one cloud computing service within the next three years. That’s an increase from the 29 percent who are currently paying for cloud services.

The report says that SMBs using cloud services will use an average of 3.3 services each, and the total number of paid cloud services used will double in the next three years.

“Cloud adoption will be gradual, and SMBs will continue to operate in a hybrid model with an increasing blend between off-premises and traditional on-premises infrastructure for the foreseeable future,” said Microsoft’s Marco Limena. “As cloud computing becomes more ubiquitous and SMBs’ existing IT becomes outdated, adoption will grow rapidly. Hosting service providers should consider the appropriate sales, delivery and support models to target larger SMB customers that are more likely to pay for cloud services.”