But there are significant differences in the penetration of cloud services by country. In Spain, for example, 89 percent said they use technologies that run in the cloud. In South Africa the figure is 79 percent. However, just half (51 percent) of US consumers have adopted cloud services, and a scant 27 percent of those in Germany are users.
“The main barriers to more use of cloud computing services are lack of awareness and lack of perceived need,” says Gary Matuszak, Global Chair of KPMG’s Information, Communications & Entertainment line of business. “There does not seem to be any significant bias against using remote applications instead of applications residing on one’s computer. If the global problems associated with privacy and security can be overcome to consumers’ satisfaction, then this new, convenient and highly efficient channel for delivering information and services is very likely to play a major part in the further development of the global marketplace.”