Cloud Optimization Strategies Study Shows 81 Percent of Businesses Tap Cloud Storage

PITTSBURGH, PA – January 29, 2013 – Avere Systems, a leader in network-attached storage (NAS) optimization, today announced the results of its Cloud Study Optimization Survey in conjunction with Gatepoint Research. The study finds that businesses across the globe are realizing the value of cloud storage and the importance of implementing a cloud strategy. A majority of respondents (80 percent) already have some sort of cloud storage in place, of which 37 percent are using the public cloud, 35 percent are using a private cloud and 7 percent are using a hybrid of both public and private clouds.

“There’s no question that data storage is moving quickly toward the cloud,” said Ron Bianchini, President and CEO, Avere Systems. “It is extremely important to have a cloud strategy in place. The question now becomes whether to choose the public cloud, the private cloud or a combination of the two. We’re finding that security, cost, flexibility and efficiency are the deciding factors for businesses when choosing which cloud model to go with.”

The study also revealed that 45 percent of respondents plan on public cloud use within the next five years, 29 percent plan to use the private cloud and 22 percent will look to hybrid options.

Some other key findings include:

- Respondents report plans to shift to cloud use for both on-demand processing and storage

- Security is the number one concern regarding cloud use, followed by uncertainty over application performance and latency

- Amazon EC2 and Amazon S3 are the most popular cloud services

- Disaster recovery and business continuity are seen as key benefits of public cloud use

This study was conducted in conjunction with Gatepoint Research and 100 executives have participated to date. All responders are at the Manager level or above with 38 percent at the Director level or above, and 51 percent are executives working for organizations generating more than $1.5 billion in annual revenue.

Download the full survey results by visiting http://averesystems1.web12.hubspot.com/Cloud_Strategy_Race_White_Paper