New Delhi: Enterprises not investing in cloud computing platform may fail to manage costs and innovate, and as a result lose market share due to the inability to meet customers’ needs, a survey by Wipro Technologies and TLG today said.

Cloud computing enables companies to use software, applications and various services on pay-per-use basis, without the need to set up and own IT infrastructure.

Being hailed as a “game changer”, cloud technology helps businesses become more efficient, productive and helps them bring new products and services faster in the market.

“Despite the evident advantages of cloud computing there are a significant number of companies that have placed themselves at a competitive disadvantage purely by failing to adopt cloud computing,” the survey said.

It added that 43 per cent of the 100 CXOs of companies with turnover in excess of $250 million interviewed agreed that companies that do not invest in the cloud may lose out by failing to manage costs.

About 40 per cent of the respondents said lack of cloud solution will mean that businesses fail to innovate, while one-fifth of the CXOs believed that such companies will lose market share due to the inability to meet customers’ needs, it added.

“We see cloud technology as absolutely critical in delivering efficiencies and making businesses more productive but there is another vital benefit - cloud technology has the potential to create completely new business models and SMEs and start-ups will embrace them.

“That’s good news for consumers but is a real concern for established companies that have yet to adopt Cloud,” Wipro Technologies Chief Technology Officer Anurag Srivastava said.

About 51 per cent of the respondents said the biggest benefits from cloud adoption are scalability and mobility.

“At the moment some businesses are seeing cloud adoption as a choice but the reality is that in a few years the next generation of consumers will force the cloud onto businesses.

“Both business customers and consumers want accessibility and services on their terms which means that in the near future being in business will mean being cloud centric,” Srivastava added.

Security continues to be the greatest worry for business leaders looking into cloud adoption.

Two-thirds of the respondents said security worries are the greatest barrier to cloud adoption, while three-quarters said that being able to ensure security is a critical criterion for their selection of cloud service providers.