Some local authorities are facing problems moving to the cloud due to poor choices of migration partner, according to new research.

A survey carried out on behalf of the Cloud Industry Forum found that 44% of local authorities have concerns over the migration of data with 41% worried about data sovereignty.

The report said that these problems are often traced back to the cloud-migration partner, and can be remedied by better pre-procurement investigations.

Simone Hume, head of public sector at cloud hosting supplier Outsourcery, which jointly commissioned the study, said: “Complex migration routes, qualms with data sovereignty and contractual queries, while not denting adoption or ultimate satisfaction, are clearly causing some frustration and concern and there is a risk that this will result in organisations not realising the full benefits of a cloud solution.

“The issues we found seem to have a common cause in the partner chosen to work with, who either didn’t meet an organisation’s needs, or didn’t fully understand or support its migration to the cloud.”

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Despite the problems, the survey found the rate of cloud adoption was increasing rapidly within the public sector.

More than three quarters of respondents (78%) said their organisation were using some form of cloud-based service. Of the adopters 83% are using two or more hosting solutions, up from 53% last year.

Alex Hilton, chief executive of CIF said: “This research into public sector cloud adoption has been a confirmation of the fact that this sector is increasingly seeing the benefits of migrating to the cloud. “Able to raise cost-effectiveness, productivity and employee satisfaction, cloud services are an excellent choice for any organisation working with the public’s interests at heart.”