Where organizations are using cloud solutions

One of the easiest ways for a vendor to show a technology is catching on is to do a survey. Recently two companies offering cloud solutions released polls from their communities showing where the cloud is popular.

Spiceworks, which makes a free vendor sponsored Web-based network management and help desk solutions, said 70 per cent of the 600 of global IT professionals that responded to its survey are using cloud-based Web hosting applications. Another three per cent are planning to use a Web hosting service in the next six months.

Sixty per cent of respondents said they are using cloud-based security applications, while 30 per cent are using backup apps. While online backup solutions showed the lowest adoption rates, the company said in a release, 13 per cent of respondents said they plan to implement an offering in the next six months.

Of those who have or plan to deploy a cloud-based backup solution, nearly 75 per cent have already or will back up more than 100 gigabytes of data to the cloud. One-third of respondents have or plan to back up more than 1 terabyte of data to the cloud.

On the other hand, just under 60 per cent of respondents who aren’t using a cloud-based backup solution said “heavy bandwidth requirements” were a concern, followed by 48 per cent who said “risk of data loss/security breach” was barrier to adoption.

Of those using cloud-based security solutions, anti-spam solutions are used by 41 per cent of respondents, followed by content filtering at 27 per cent and anti-virus at 22 per cent.

The roughly 40 per cent who don’t use cloud-based security said the “lack of control over solution components,” “risk of relying on third parties to deliver critical services,” and “bandwidth requirements” were the primary barriers to adoption.

The survey was sent to people registered with the Spiceworks Community, which the company says numbers 2.6 million. Sixty eight per cent of respondents were from North America and 32 per cent from Europe, the middle east and Asia. The majority of those surveyed work in organizations with less than 1,000 employees.

A separate survey by IDC research for Eze Castle Integration, which sells strategic IT solutions and private cloud services to hedge funds and alternative investment firms, questioned 101 executive at investment management firms on their use of cloud technology.

Almost three quarters of them said they use a private cloud to meet all or part of their IT and application needs.

While cloud security is often cited as a concern, 93 per cent said that the private cloud is more secure than or just as secure as on-premise infrastructure.

Forty percent of firms expect their use of private and hybrid clouds to increase in the next 12 months, while 28 percent of firms expect to increase public cloud usage

More than one-third of respondents said their organizations are spending more on cloud this year than they did last year, while only five percent said their budgets have decreased.

Would you recommend this article?

Share

Thanks for taking the time to let us know what you think of this article!
We'd love to hear your opinion about this or any other story you read in our publication.


Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

Featured Download

Howard Solomon
Howard Solomon
Currently a freelance writer, I'm the former editor of ITWorldCanada.com and Computing Canada. An IT journalist since 1997, I've written for several of ITWC's sister publications including ITBusiness.ca and Computer Dealer News. Before that I was a staff reporter at the Calgary Herald and the Brampton (Ont.) Daily Times. I can be reached at hsolomon [@] soloreporter.com

Featured Articles

Cybersecurity in 2024: Priorities and challenges for Canadian organizations 

By Derek Manky As predictions for 2024 point to the continued expansion...

Survey shows generative AI is a top priority for Canadian corporate leaders.

Leaders are devoting significant budget to generative AI for 2024 Canadian corporate...

Related Tech News

Tech Jobs

Our experienced team of journalists and bloggers bring you engaging in-depth interviews, videos and content targeted to IT professionals and line-of-business executives.

Tech Companies Hiring Right Now