Study: Cloud services changing IT professions

As cloud services are deployed for a growing number of purposes, IT professionals are devoting a greater percentage of their time to strategic planning, according to a recent study.

The study, conducted by SearchCIO.com, found more than half of IT professionals spent more time on strategic planning in 2010 than in 2009.

Among senior IT executives, 50.9 percent of respondents reported an increase in time spent on IT strategy, while 55.5 percent of mid-level executives reported a similar increase. Approximately 49.4 percent of IT managers and 41.2 percent of other IT staff indicated they devoted more time to strategy in 2010 than in previous years.

According to a SearchCIO.com report, the increase in time spent on IT strategy is likely a result of dramatic changes taking place in the IT world, especially the growth of cloud services.

Managed cloud services have experienced rapid growth in recent years and are widely expected to continue growing in popularity. According to a recent In-Stat study, spending on cloud services in the U.S. is likely to reach $13 billion by 2014.