Computerworld - Fifty-seven percent of CIOs and storage administrators plan to adopt cloud storage -- first for email, then for front-office applications, and finally for backup data -- according to a survey released this week.
The survey, performed by market research firm Storage Strategies NOW (SSG-NOW) and co-sponsored by the Storage Networking Industry Association, was sent out to more than 2,000 end users who had attended the Storage Networking World trade show in the past. The results were released on Monday at the show here in Santa Clara, Calif.
Of 133 respondents to the survey, most indicated that the adoption of standards will be more key to companies using public cloud services, but not as important when it comes to deploying private clouds within their own data centers.
"The security of data stored in the cloud isn't as much of a concern as lack of budget is," said Deni Connor, principal analyst at SSG-NOW.
Asked when they would adopt cloud storage, 27% indicated in six months to one year; 22% said they had already adopted some form of cloud storage; 17% said in one year to 18 months; 16% indicated that they would adopt it in the next six months; and 12% said in 18 months to two years.
Respondents' answers varied widely when they were asked what their primary reason was for storing data in the cloud. Twelve percent indicated that they wanted to use the cloud as an offsite location for data, and the same percentage said they didn't want to have to build out their own storage infrastructure.
Sixteen percent said they hoped the cloud could reduce their capital and operational expenditures, 14% said they hoped it would reduce their total cost of ownership, and another 14% said they hoped it would increase their business agility.
Asked what the single biggest misconception about the cloud is, 24% of respondents said it's that the cloud model is not proven. Equal percentages (11%) pointed to the perceptions that the cloud is not reliable, that it creates vendor lock-in or that it is difficult to integrate. The remaining respondents said it's that the cloud lacks adequate security (13%); that there are no misconceptions (12%); that cloud vendors are not yet viable (10%); and that the cloud is hard to customize (9%).
Ajay Chandramouly, director of IT at Intel, said his IT shop began deploying a private/public cloud storage infrastructure in 2006 to increase efficiency, agility, security and availability.
For example, it used to take Intel about three months from the time an end user requested a new service to the time she got it, Chandramouly said. Since deploying a cloud-based infrastructure, it now takes a matter of hours.
Previously, a user had to submit a request to IT, which then assigned an "engagement manager," who sat down with the user to find out what service she needed and why. Then the engagement manager would analyze what was needed to create the service and the cost.
He would then hammer out an agreement with the user and register her with management software and billing tools before the service was created.
Today, users need only their direct manager's approval before going to a Web hosting site at Intel.com to fill out a request form that offers three service levels: small, medium and large.
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