A recent study by Microsoft found that 35 percent of small and medium-sized businesses in the United States that have migrated to cloud computing environments have experienced significant security benefits. The survey found that 32 percent of respondents spend less time managing security or worrying about cyberattacks.

"There's a perception that security is a barrier to cloud adoption," Microsoft Trustworthy Computing general manager Adrienne Hall said. "Yet when companies embrace and invest in cloud services, they find the benefits far outweigh previous concerns."

The resources saved from not having to manage security are being reallocated to different areas of the business, including hiring more staff to enhance sales and growth and investing in solutions and services that give them a competitive advantage over rival firms. Another 42 percent of respondents said scalable cloud computing enabled them to expand to new markets more easily, the study noted.

Another report by Parallels found that the U.S. SMB cloud adoption rate experienced a 25 percent growth in 2011 to reach more than $15 billion. As more SMBs migrate to hosted environments, decision-makers will realize the benefits of the technology prove more advantageous than the perceived risks.