Cloud-based office applications are yet to be trusted

According to a survey by market research firm Gartner, the following is not yet available for the time being - cloud-based office applications. But at the same time, Gartner also speculated that a major shift to the cloud office system is expected to begin in the first half of 2015.

Gartner analysts say speculation exists in the current market that only a small number of companies have moved to cloud-based e-mail or cloud office systems.

There have been reports of large organizations using Google Apps and cloud-based office suites like Microsoft Office 365. However, Gartner correctly observed this market. The analyst said there are currently about 50 million cloud office users, accounting for only 8% of the total office system users (not including China and India).

However, Gartner predicts that a major shift toward cloud office systems will begin in the second half of 2015 and reach 33% penetration by 2017.

Gartner analyst Tom Austin said that while there is a lot of hype around cloud services migration, the huge differences in migration speed will continue depending on the size of the organization, industry, geography, and specific needs.

Although 8% of enterprise users started using cloud office systems in early 2013, we expect this figure to grow to 659 million by 2022, accounting for 60% of enterprise users.

While e-mail remains the main collaborative tool in the world, the importance of other tools, such as team sites and online communities, is on the rise.

Gartner said email is an important factor in making decisions about whether to move to the cloud office system. By the end of 2014, at least 10% of corporate e-mail accounts will be cloud-based or based on the software-as-a-service model. By the end of 2017, this percentage will reach at least one-third.

Gartner said the explosive growth in the number of mobile devices each user will carry will push some organizations to migrate to cloud office systems because of the IT burden of installing, maintaining, and upgrading locally installed office software.