As a new study from InformationWeek Analytics found, more businesses are ready to move IT operations to the public cloud, but many are still are still stunted by persistent data security concerns.
According to the news provider’s study, which surveyed 360 IT decision-makers, 15 percent of polled companies are already using the public cloud for storage purposes, and an additional 10 percent plan to follow suit within the next two years.
However, despite this trend, 37 percent of respondents indicated they have no plan to move their storage capabilities to the public cloud.
According to the report, security concerns are the biggest inhibitor of the cloud, cited by 73 percent of respondents. However, it is not the only barrier, as privacy concerns and regulatory constraints were also identified in the survey.
“Companies are very protective of their data – and rightly so,” said InformationWeek Analytics’ content director Lorna Garey. “They need more storage space and services, but they’re not going to move their critical business and customer information to a public cloud until they’re absolutely sure it’s safe and accessible.”
A separate study from research firm IDC reflected similar growth and inhibitors of the cloud. According to IDC’s report, global cloud services are expected to experience a compound annual growth rate of 27.6 percent between 2010 and 2015, increasing from $21.5 billion to $72.9 billion.
However, security and availability of the public cloud are expected to improve as well during this time period, suggesting they are currently lacking.
Despite these concerns, many IT experts have expressed enthusiasm for the cloud and its data protection capabilities. As the technology continues to mature, more analysts seem to believe the cloud can provide adequate levels of data security, often equal, if not greater than, that of on-premise solutions.
