The number of Irish firms implementing cloud technology has more than doubled in the past year, while small businesses have taken to facilitating employees working from home much more than larger companies, according to a new report by Irish telco firm Magnet Networks.

Magnet’s second annual regional business barometer study was undertaken for the company by Amárach Research, and involved surveys of 540 Irish IT decision makers in companies nationwide earlier this year.

It found that over half (58%) of the companies surveyed said they had introduced a cloud system for either their staff, their clients or for both, up from 23% who did so last year.

Magnet also discovered that micro-businesses employing less than nine staff were very supportive of home working, with two-thirds of their employees, on average, working from home on a regular basis.

For large companies of more than 250 employees, only 15% of their staff worked from home regularly. Small companies were also to the fore in providing their staff with smartphones (48% said they did), tablets (28%) and laptops (42%).

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In terms of cloud adoption, security concerns have risen significantly since last year, with one in five companies questioned by Magnet citing it as a deterrent to cloud adoption, compared with less than one in 20 the previous year.

Other findings showed that the primary benefits of cloud services for corporate users were reduced costs (58%), mobility (55%), allowing staff to work from home (46%) and greater productivity (37%).

Magnet’s research also revealed that, among the companies that have implemented a cloud solution, over two-thirds (69%) said its introduction was email-related. Over half (52%) adopted cloud tech to utilise collaboration tools, 34% used it to access existing business applications and another 34% used cloud tech for CRM.

Magnet released the survey details to coincide with the launch of an update to its cloud phone system, Magnet Voice. The revamped system got a new interface, added video conferencing functions, instant messaging and a Google Chrome extension.

Commenting on the survey, Mark Kellett (pictured), CEO of Magnet, said: “Work culture is changing, with today’s workforce more dispersed than ever before. Ubiquitous connectivity and mobility is the new norm, and this is where cloud really comes into play. Many services that were once only accessible from the company office can now be accessed from anywhere in the world, allowing for greater productivity, collaboration and communication.”