Survey respondents identified the following benefits in moving to cloud-based services:

• Over 50 percent of respondents indicated they will drive down operating costs through better use of IT staff and better cost predictability
• More than 35 percent of respondents indicated they will reduce errors resulting from manual processes, noting that manual processing creates the largest hindrance in their current B2B integration capabilities
• Approximately a third of all respondents expect to achieve greater visibility into their B2B processes

“The research confirms that companies are now ready to take advantage of the flexibility and scalability of cloud-based B2B integration solutions and embrace the ‘pay-for-use model’ that cloud computing represents,” comments David Carmichael, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Sterling Commerce.

Gartner estimates that worldwide cloud services revenue will increase from $46.4 billion in 2008, to $150.1 billion in 2013. More specifically for integration as a service (IaaS), Gartner estimates that companies worldwide spent more than $1.5 billion on IaaS and B2B integration outsourcing in 2009. The purchase of integration services is expected to expand greatly over the next five years, driving companies to consider their strategy in this area in order to take maximum advantage of B2B services in their implementation of B2B projects.

“In today’s economy, companies are becoming acutely aware they need to optimize their B2B integration capability to reduce costs today and become more agile for competitive growth tomorrow. Achieving this at a time when few Boards are prepared to entertain a project without a guarantee of an ROI, typically within a 12-month window, the ability to move from a capital expense to an operational one makes cloud-based B2B integration compelling,” concludes Carmichael.