Over 70% of European companies plan to use cloud-based business-to-business integration services to reduce costs.

Research among 300 senior IT managers across the UK, Germany and France has found that 72% of respondents plan to invest in the cloud as a means of delivering cost savings and the ability to scale their infrastructure.

The research was carried out by IT optimisation and transformation firm Sterling Commerce, a subsidiary of AT&T. The majority of firms will invest in cloud B2B services in the next 12 months.

Survey respondents identified the following benefits in moving to cloud-based B2B integration services:

Over 50% said they will drive down operating costs through better use of IT staff and better cost predictability

More than 35% said they will reduce errors resulting from manual processes

Around a third of all respondents expect to achieve greater visibility into their B2B processes

“The research confirms that companies are now ready to take advantage of the flexibility and scalability of cloud-based B2B integration solutions, and embrace the ‘pay-for-use model’ that cloud computing represents,” said David Carmichael, senior product marketing manager at Sterling Commerce.

Analyst Gartner estimates that worldwide cloud services revenue will increase from $46.4bn in 2008 to $150.1bn in 2013.