Survey: Australian companies see cloud computing as important to competitive footing

Mobility and automation drive adoption in 2012

Sydney, Australia – 13 November 2012 – VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW), the global leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure, today announced the findings of its Annual Cloud Maturity Index, conducted in conjunction with Forrester Consulting. The survey questioned 6,500 business decision-makers across Asia Pacific and included 656 respondents in Australia across multiple vertical sectors.

As the largest study of its kind based on respondents, and now in its third year, the survey highlighted growth of Australian organisations in their approach to cloud computing compared to prior surveys. Out of the 58 per cent of Australian organisations which have already adopted cloud computing (up from 43 per cent this time last year), more than three quarters have only done so in the last three years. 57 per cent of Australian organisations are making plans to adopt cloud-based solutions or approaches, within the next 18 months.

The survey indicates that cloud continues to be viewed by organisations across the region as a high priority. Competitive advantage has emerged as a major factor in cloud adoption, with 62 per cent of Australian organisations believing that failure to pursue cloud initiatives would put them at risk of falling behind competitors – a figure which rises to nearly 70 per cent for the broader Asia-Pacific region. Businesses also see cloud enabling a broad range of benefits: 74 per cent of Australian organisations believe the cloud can help simplify access to IT resources while 74 per cent see increased workforce mobility and flexibility as a major enabler for business. Optimisation of existing IT management and automation, reduced IT costs, and increased market competitiveness were also identified as key benefits by the majority of organisations.

Duncan Bennet, Managing Director of VMware Australia and New Zealand, said: “Business leaders both in Australia and around the Asia-Pacific region are realising the numerous benefits of cloud computing in how they pursue growth and differentiation. As organisations look to apply the cloud more broadly across the business, we expect demand for management tools and VMware’s wider software defined data centre vision to become more prevalent, as this capability really makes IT-as-a-service a reality.”

Organisations now recognise a broader range of concerns around their use of cloud. While data privacy, residency and ‘loss of control’ remain the most common concern for Australian organisations (at 71 per cent), a growing number cite systems integration (65 per cent), security (63 per cent) and availability or performance concerns (58 per cent) as barriers to adoption. Despite this, more than a quarter of Australian organisations say cloud computing is a top priority and has significant impact on business transformation, with another third acknowledging it as a highly relevant factor.

Bennet added: “As cloud computing continues to mature in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region, it is expected to take on increasingly complex forms within business processes and structures. It falls to IT providers to deliver services and tools which go beyond individual cloud offerings, delivering instead a holistic approach to management and security across all aspects of deployment.”

John Brand, VP & Principal Analyst at Forrester Research, said: “Reducing costs is still an expected benefit by the majority of respondents. However, it’s interesting to see that the use of automation with cloud computing is now viewed by more than 70% of Australian respondents as being an expected benefit as well. Cloud computing is also seen to enable enhanced compliance and lower risk – indicating that specialist service providers and hosting partners are indeed able to optimise the delivery of IT services in a more flexible way, particularly in supporting a changing workforce.”

About the VMware Cloud Index
The VMware Cloud Index 2012 is an APJ-wide study conducted by Forrester Consulting and ITR (in Japan only). Now in its 3rd annual edition, the 2012 study surveyed approximately 6,500 (to be confirmed) senior IT practitioners across the APJ region in eleven countries (Australia, China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Korea, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Taiwan). Three new countries were added to the study in 2012 (Indonesia, Hong Kong and Taiwan). The survey was conducted in September and October 2012.

About VMware
VMware is the leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure solutions that enable businesses to thrive in the Cloud Era. Customers rely on VMware to help them transform the way they build, deliver and consume Information Technology resources in a manner that is evolutionary and based on their specific needs. With 2011 revenues of $3.77 billion, VMware has more than 400,000 customers and 55,000 partners. The company is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the world and can be found online at www.vmware.com.

VMware is a registered trademark of VMware, Inc.. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective organizations. The use of the word “partner” or “partnership” does not imply a legal partnership relationship between VMware and any other company.

Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements including, among other things, statements regarding IT trends including plans for APJ enterprises to adopt cloud computing and expand spending, the role of VMware products in the expansion of cloud computing in APJ and their potential benefits to customers. These forward-looking statements are subject to the safe harbor provisions created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain risk factors, including but not limited to (i) adverse changes in general economic or market conditions; (ii) priorities, delays or reductions in information technology spending; (iii) competitive factors, including but not limited to pricing pressures, industry consolidation, entry of new competitors into the virtualization and cloud computing markets, and new product and marketing initiatives by our competitors; (iv) our customers’ ability to develop, and to transition to, new products and computing strategies such as cloud computing and desktop virtualization; (v) the uncertainty of customer acceptance of emerging technology; (vi) rapid technological and market changes in virtualization software and platforms for cloud and desktop computing; (vii) changes to product development timelines; (viii) VMware’s ability to protect its proprietary technology; and (ix) VMware’s ability to attract and retain highly qualified employees.. These forward looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to uncertainties and changes in condition, significance, value and effect as well as other risks detailed in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K that we may file from time to time, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. VMware assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release.

Media Contacts:
Emma Rogers
VMware
P. +612 9293 5650
E. erogers@vmware.com

Karen Wells
Text 100 (Public Relations for VMware ANZ)
P. +612 9956 5733
E. Karen.wells@text100.com.au