MYOB: Half of New Zealand registrations are for cloud products

Accounting software company MYOB reports that half of its new registrations in New Zealand are for cloud-based products. It a trend that’s gaining traction faster here than in Australia. MYOB’s chief technology officer Simon Raik-Allen says cloud uptake in New Zealand is at 50 percent, while Australia lags slightly behind at 40 percent.

Raik-Allen highlights how rapid this shift has been. Two years ago, only eight percent of registrations in either country were for cloud products. He notes that both Australia and New Zealand are leading cloud adoption rates on the global stage.

Small Business Adoption Lags

There’s a gap between small businesses and larger companies in cloud adoption. “Only 16 percent of small businesses in ANZ report using the cloud, compared with 80 percent among larger companies,” says Raik-Allen. Interestingly, eight percent of small businesses didn’t even know whether they were using cloud services, suggesting a possible perception issue around cloud technology.

This might not be so surprising, as MYOB’s own research shows that many customers don’t care about how their accounting software is delivered—what matters is having all the necessary features available.

Raik-Allen believes that early online banking systems laid the groundwork for business acceptance of cloud computing, making people comfortable with handling finances on-screen. However, he emphasizes that there’s still work to be done in educating customers on the benefits of cloud adoption. He says that companies transitioning to cloud-based services tend to perform better, with more sales in the pipeline and greater revenue growth.