According to IT security company Symantec’s survey, organisations are conflicted about security – rating it both as a top goal and as a top concern with moving to the cloud.
Some 87 percent of respondents are confident that moving to the cloud will not impact or will actually improve their security. However, achieving security for cloud environments is also a top concern for these organisations, which cited potential risks including malware, hacker-based theft and loss of confidential data.
“With the cloud, everything depends on how you secure your data,” said the CTO of a small technology company. “If there’s no security, there’s no point in moving to the cloud.”
Despite a great deal of consideration, many organisations claimed that they are not ready to adopt the cloud. A minority of respondents (between 15 and 18 percent) rated their staff as extremely prepared for the transition to cloud. Almost half of the respondents said their IT staffs are not ready at this time. Part of the reason for this readiness shortfall is lack of experience, as just 25 percent of IT teams have any cloud experience. As a result, most organisations are currently turning to outside resources for help. In fact, when deploying hybrid infrastructure or platform-as-a-service, about 3 in 4 respondents said they are turning to value added resellers (VARs), independent consultants, vendor professional services organisations or systems integrators.
Finish line
Many organisations are talking about moving to the cloud, with 75 to 81 percent at least discussing all forms of cloud. Notably, the study found a high interest in cloud services. Seventy-three percent of respondents have adopted or are adopting some sort of cloud service, with security services leading the way. The top cloud services companies are adopting include email services (such as management or security); security management; and web and IM security. However, few have fully migrated to the cloud. Less than 20 percent reported having completed implementing each of the cloud focus areas covered by the research. About one in four organisations are in an implementation phase. About two-thirds are still in early discussions, trials or not considering a move to the cloud at all.
Expectations
The survey discovered that organisations having implemented cloud technologies are not seeing the results/benefits they had anticipated. Eighty-eight percent expected cloud to improve their IT agility, but only 47 percent said that it actually did. Results also fell short in the areas of disaster recovery, efficiency, lower operational expenses and improved security.
Symantec’s 2011 State of Cloud Survey
Symantec’s 2011 State of Cloud Survey focused on various forms of cloud computing including Public and Private Software-as-a-Service, Hybrid Infrastructure or Platform-as-Service, as well as Public and Private Infrastructure or Platform-as-a-Service. The findings are the result of research conducted April to July 2011 by Applied Research, which surveyed IT and C-level professionals responsible for computers, networks and technology resources at both SMBs and enterprise organisations. Findings were based on 5,300 responses from 38 countries worldwide.
