FRAMINGHAM, Mass., June 14, 2012 – Worldwide public IT cloud services spending is forecast to surpass $55 billion in 2014. Yet IT leaders continue to struggle with quantifying the operational, organizational, and financial implications of their application hosting and platform decisions. To help IT decision makers to better understand their options and the associated implications as they move various enterprise workloads to the cloud, International Data Corporation (IDC) has developed a new Cloud Decision Framework Tool.

A robust tool for any IT organization wishing to more precisely evaluate its cloud computing strategy, IDC's Cloud Decision Framework Tool officially debuted during a comprehensive, three-hour IDC analyst workshop that took place in conjunction with the IDC/IDG Cloud Leadership Forum in Santa Clara, California.

"This tool was carefully designed to help guide IT managers in their decisions around on-premise, private and public cloud computing options," said Joe Pucciarelli, vice president, Technology Financial & Executive Strategies at IDC. "The painstaking evaluation struggles that once plagued the cloud decision-making process have been all but eliminated as the Cloud Decision Framework Tool does all the heavy lifting."

IDC's Cloud Decision Framework Tool Helps IT Managers:

• Become more agile in the cloud decision making process

• Understand and take advantage of the profound technology, platform, staffing, and economic opportunities that will shape IT strategies in the coming years

• Identify customer priorities for IT cloud system management software investments

• Align business/IT governance around a specific cloud vision

• Restructure IT purchasing and sourcing approaches

• Evaluate overall cloud goals

"The Cloud Decision Framework Tool allows you to decompose a very complex business decision by breaking it down into its key components. A CIO can use the tool to collaborate with the rest of the executive team and get them on board with moving to a cloud," commented Allyn McGillicaddy, Principal, Office of the CIO.com.

Click here to access IDC's Cloud Decision Framework Tool. For more information, please contact Joe Pucciarelli at jpucciarelli@idc.com or Randy Perry at rperry@idc.com.

Join IDC on June 27th for a complimentary Web conference, Cloud Economics 2012: The Latest Findings When It Comes to Cost, that will highlight the Cloud Decision Framework Tool. Click here to register.

About IDC

International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 1,000 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 100 countries. For more than 48 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company. You can learn more about IDC by visiting www.idc.com.

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