A new survey reveals that companies are highly optimistic about growth, but need cloud technology innovation and strategy to overcome challenges.
Leaders of the 5,000 fastest growing private companies in America—known as the Inc. 5000—have an overwhelmingly optimistic outlook for 2017, according to Oracle’s The Talent and Tech Driving America’s Fastest Growing Companies survey.
Nine out of 10 respondents (89%) describe themselves as either extremely confident or very confident about their prospects for the future. Backed by this confidence, the majority plan to expand their workforce (91%), offer new products (61%), move into new markets (65%), and do more business internationally (32%) in the coming year.
Realizing the Potential of the Cloud to Propel Growth
In order to support their expansion, the majority of the Inc. 5000 have adopted cloud technology.
- Nearly 60% cite scalability and flexibility for growth as primary drivers of cloud adoption,
- 22% see the primary benefit as increased internal communication and collaboration, and
- More than 83% of respondents have at least two functions in the cloud.
However, many of these businesses aren’t fully optimizing the potential of the cloud to aid in their growth and avoid plateauing.
- Just over a third (36%) have their finances in the cloud,
- Only 29% have put their e-commerce functions into cloud solutions, compared to over half who have migrated sales and Human Resources to the cloud (51% and 62%, respectively), and
- 44% struggle to achieve integration across cloud products.
Partnering for Cloud Success
Of the 41% who ranked investing in technology a top-three priority for 2017, only 23% cited maintaining a competitive edge as a reason to make the investment, pointing to the fact that companies lack the strategic direction to differentiate and avoid stagnation.
“Rapidly growing small and medium businesses have had the advantage of building on the cloud from day one,” said Reggie Bradford, senior vice president, Startup Ecosystem and Accelerator, Oracle, in a press release. “But their fast growth, paired with the array of cloud solutions from different vendors, presents some challenges. To avoid stagnation, [small- and medium-sized businesses] need a cloud vendor that guides them in addressing product integration issues, selecting the best fit—for budget and business purpose—and truly understanding future cloud opportunities.”
Methodology and Resources
The Talent and Tech Driving America’s Fastest Growing Companies study, commissioned by Oracle and fielded by Inc. Media, surveyed leaders of companies that are current or recent Inc. 5000 honorees. The Inc. 5000 list ranks companies by 3-year sales growth, among other factors. The average growth rate of the Inc. 5000 was 128% over 3 years, with average annual sales of $40 million. The Inc. 5000 companies created 640,127 new jobs during the previous three years.
View the complete survey here.