By Cherian Varghese, Vice President and Managing Director – Africa, Oracle

Businesses that haven’t invested in IaaS solutions will find themselves struggling to keep up with competitors that have, according to 59% of respondents to a recent Oracle survey. Here are four reasons why IaaS adopters believe they have an edge:

 1. Paving the way for innovation

Two thirds (66%) of businesses that are already using IaaS to some extent, say it makes it easier to innovate, according to the same survey. For example, if an enterprise has an idea for a new tool, it can create a virtual test environment at a low cost, and demo and deploy that service in a matter of days instead of months. This agility can help foster a workplace culture that encourages innovation through trial and error, and is helping organizations develop tools to help people do their jobs better – and even save lives. Falkonry, an artificial intelligence company, deployed an IaaS solution to gain the computing power needed to analyse data and recognize behavioural patterns from epilepsy patients to anticipate seizures and aid effective intervention.

2.The flexibility to scale

Businesses that need to scale up quickly in response to new opportunities or peaks of activity, and want to do so without carrying the cost of investing in additional expensive on premise technology that will take time and money to deploy, are also benefiting from IaaS. Should a company wish for more computing power or server space, IaaS providers can supply it as and when needed.

3.The need for speed

In competitive industries, speed is of the essence and businesses are turning to IaaS to speed up their processes. For instance, Yellow Dog, a UK start up, is tapping into public cloud infrastructure to give creative firms the processing power they need to produce complex 3-D renderings of their work. Through adopting IaaS, the business has doubled its processing output so customers can get their jobs done far faster and more efficiently. Similarly, the ability to roll out new products, applications and services more quickly is helping businesses in fast-moving industries to capitalize upon new opportunities while they are still opportunities.

4. Reducing complexity

By outsourcing their core IT infrastructure, companies are freeing resources typically spent on its maintenance and management. Reducing complexity in this way has helped over half (57%) of adopters reduce IT maintenance costs significantly.

These are just four of the benefits businesses are deriving from IaaS and just four of the reasons why just 10% of businesses see IaaS playing little or no role in their business within three years. Ultimately, by moving on premise infrastructure to a service-based model, businesses are recognizing the fact they can focus their time and resources where they are most needed, and put infrastructure worries behind them.