What Matters Most in the Cloud

The study reveals that collaboration and speed are two major drivers for enterprise adoption of cloud computing

Here’s a surprise.

Ignore everything you’ve been reading lately about the pressing concerns that businesses and consumers have about maintaining and accessing data and apps safely on the cloud. Apparently, what matters more, according to a new survey by cloud platform provider CloudShare, are the ability to collaborate and ease of use.

The independently conducted survey, which polled 2,500 enterprises, asked respondents to cite factors driving their particular organization’s move towards cloud-based services. “The study reveals that while security continues to be an area of consideration for cloud adoption, it is no longer regarded as the number one concern for selecting a cloud provider,” says CloudShare

Here are the top factors that poll-takers cited as “very important” to have in a cloud provider:

* 71% said support for their existing in-house IT architecture, including unmodified operating systems, applications and network topology,
* 57% said it is an all-inclusive business model that includes servers, bandwidth and storage, rather than a ‘nickel-and-diming’ approach,
* 54% cited a “point and click” level of ease of use.

In addition, the study also reveals that collaboration and speed are two major drivers for enterprise adoption of cloud computing. About one-third of survey respondents said the most important factor fueling their organization’s interest in the cloud is improved collaboration on projects that involve IT infrastructure. Meanwhile, another three-quarters said that faster time to deploy IT is the driving force behind their move to the cloud.

“All of this demonstrates that the other three S’s — speed, simplicity and similarity to a current environment — are surpassing security as a major concern for cloud adoption,” says CloudShare.

What’s missing from this survey? At least in the summary I read, what’s missing is the percentage of those polled who think security and safety is still the most important factor in migration to the cloud. I have no doubt that support, speed, ease of use, quick deployment and collaboration matter, but I have my doubts that, when it comes to the cloud, some of them are more important than security.

Anybody else out there wondering the same?

Original Article - http://cloudcomputing.sys-con.com/node/1350885

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