Eighty Percent of Businesses Have Some Sort of Cloud Storage in Place

As vendors rush to satisfy the growing demand for cloud access and services, one particular niche that has seen a lot of competition is cloud storage. Companies like Google, Apple and Microsoft now offer cloud storage services to supplement their other cloud offerings.

Also, businesses are not being left behind and according to recent results of the Cloud Study Optimization Survey, conducted by Avere Systems, in conjunction with Gatepoint Research, more businesses have realized the value of cloud storage and the importance of implementing a cloud strategy than ever before.

According to the study, 80 percent of the respondents already have some sort of cloud storage in place. 37 percent of this number is using the public cloud, 35 percent is using a private cloud and seven percent a hybrid storage solution.

These numbers are a clear sign that data storage is quickly moving online and having a cloud strategy in place is becoming fundamental. While businesses now have the option of either a public, private or a combination of both clouds, the survey found that the deciding factors on what cloud option to go for is based on security, cost, flexibility and efficiency.

Looking at future adoption statistics, the study found that 45 percent plan to use the public cloud, 29 percent will use the private cloud, while 22 percent will look to hybrid options. The respondents also intend to shift to using cloud services for on-demand process and storage, with Amazon EC2 and Amazon S3 being the most popular cloud service options.

When it comes to concerns over cloud use, security is the number one concern followed by uncertainty over performance and latency of applications. Disaster recovery and business continuity are seen as the key benefits of public cloud use.

The study, which included 100 executives working for organizations that have annual revenue of over $1.5B, reflects the trend among businesses in general regarding cloud service adoptions and the underlying reasons behind cloud storage take up.