Overwhelming majority of decision makers believe customer service and technical support are important considerations when choosing cloud provider

SAN ANTONIO, June 25 — Nine in ten (91%) of IT decision makers have a positive opinion of cloud computing according to a national survey commissioned by Rackspace Hosting. IT decision makers view customer service and technical support as important considerations when choosing a cloud computing provider.

By a three to one ratio (75% to 25%), the IT decision makers surveyed prefer a cloud provider with strong customer service and technical support even if that provider has higher prices. This view was consistent by IT decision makers regardless of organization size and type.

IT decision makers also ranked the ability to add computing power, the ability to move data easily between cloud providers and concerns over vendor lock-in as important considerations when choosing a cloud provider.

"The world is in the midst of a tectonic shift toward cloud computing that is revolutionizing the way companies do business," said Rackspace CEO Lanham Napier. "The survey shows that IT decision makers understand the importance of selecting a cloud provider that empowers their businesses with the systems, products, and customer service capabilities to successfully make the transition to the cloud."

"We believe it is important that companies be empowered with choice, an open cloud and the high level of technical support they need to concentrate on their core business," added Napier. "A chief benefit for IT decision makers using open-source technology is portability of workloads across vendors and the elimination of vendor lock-in."

92% of IT decision makers surveyed said being able to move data easily between cloud providers was an important consideration when choosing a cloud provider. The issue of vendor lock-in was an important consideration for 86% of respondents when choosing a cloud provider.

Rogue IT is Prevalent

Nearly half (43%) of decision makers surveyed are aware of people taking it upon themselves to use cloud computing services or resources not provided by their organization's IT department in order to help with work projects. Among respondents reporting someone in their organization using cloud services independently of the IT department, 38% said the main reason is to save time. One in three respondents believe it was because the solutions were not available internally or because it was a way to not deal with the organization's IT department.

Less Than Half Would Take Job with Company Not Using Cloud Computing

A question asking whether IT decision makers would be willing to take a job with a company that does not use cloud computing illuminated the strong reliance that decision makers have developed towards this technology. Less than half (48%) of IT leaders say they would take a job with a new company that does not use cloud computing, while 28% said they would not. The other 24% responded that they did not know whether they would or not.

"Cloud computing is spurring innovation by enabling business users and developers to deploy, configure and adapt faster," said John Engates, chief technology officer at Rackspace. "The survey confirms the rapid migration to the cloud as IT leaders reap the benefit of spending more time creating and less time configuring."

About the Research

Rackspace Hosting commissioned McLaughlin & Associates to conduct the national online survey of 500 IT decision makers who work for businesses or organizations that use cloud computing. The survey was conducted between April 19 and April 28, 2012, and the accuracy of the sample is within +/- 4.5% at a 95% confidence interval.

About Rackspace

Rackspace Hosting (NYSE: RAX) is the service leader in cloud computing, and a founder of OpenStack, an open source cloud operating system. The San Antonio-based company provides Fanatical Support to its customers and partners, across a portfolio of IT services, including Managed Hosting and Cloud Computing. Rackspace has been recognized by Bloomberg BusinessWeek as a Top 100 Performing Technology Company and was featured on Fortune's list of 100 Best Companies to Work For. The company was also positioned in the Leaders Quadrant by Gartner Inc. in the "2011 Magic Quadrant for Managed Hosting." For more information, visit www.rackspace.com.

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Source: Rackspace Hosting