With so much focus on “the cloud,” do you wonder how much is hype and how much represents actual success companies have experienced? Thanks to a recent survey conducted by RingCentral (News - Alert), a company focused on delivering cloud-based business solutions and phone systems, you can gain insight into the true rate of cloud adoption and trends in remote working.

RingCentral announced its survey results, highlighting that the combination of remote capabilities and cloud technology in business solutions has created a workforce that is constantly connected. Professionals today are rarely unreachable or unplugged. The dismal news, however, is that this always-on approach has extended into the holiday season in a whole new way.

The study spurred responses from more than 300 executive and business owners, each sharing information on their respective companies’ changing attitudes regarding working remotely and holiday breaks. Most business owners, relying on the power of their smartphones, and perhaps the promise in the economic growth, will work while on vacation and through the holiday season.

Small business owners are even more likely to work through the holiday season, even more so than in years past. These same business leaders will increasingly allow their employees to work remotely to ensure the demands of their business are met. Sadly, only 14 percent of business owners will make plans to take a true vacation and very few individuals will take a break from phone calls or emails related to the job.

Smartphones are the main culprit for this shift in attitudes toward holiday and vacation breaks. While on vacation or traveling with family, business owners will rely on their smartphone devices to stay connected. At the same time, 73 percent will allow employees to use business solutions to work remotely, demonstrating more flexibility during the holiday season.

The majority of the small business owners responding to the survey indicated they use a minimum of one cloud service. Another one-third of these owners use three or more cloud-based services, such as salesforce, Gmail or Box.net. RingCentral is also becoming a popular option for small business owners supporting a remote workforce as the company’s business solutions help them to stay on top of every to-do item on the list while out of the office.

The cloud is an optimal destination for business solutions as it is expected to trump traditional software by 2015 as nearly 90 percent of participants expect to migrate to the cloud in the near future. This overwhelming response indicates significant growth opportunity in cloud-based business solutions.

Study respondents appear to be less motivated by cost when considering new technology-based business solutions as the key focus is functionality. Business owners want to know how these solutions will contribute to the workflow of the business and accelerate overall success.