Enterprises look to cloud for data storage and security

BANGALORE, INDIA: In a press release earlier this month, Verizon unveiled its new cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) platform and cloud-based object storage service aptly named Verizon Cloud.

With this service, Verizon hopes to vastly improve how public clouds are built. Large enterprises and SMEs will benefit from the speed, reliability and scale of an enterprise-level service. Verizon hopes to launch the public beta version of Verizon Cloud later this year.

"Verizon created the enterprise cloud, now we're recreating it," said John Stratton, president of Verizon Enterprise Solutions. "This is the revolution in cloud services that enterprises have been calling for. We took feedback from our enterprise clients across the globe and built a new cloud platform from the bottom up to deliver the attributes they require."

Enterprises across the globe are witnessing dynamic changes in the storage requirements of their business. The traditional storage infrastructure has limited storage space and capacity which hinders the dynamic expansion of data storage requirements from enterprises.

In order to tackle this issue, enterprises are adopting Cloud-Based Storage solutions at an extremely high rate, which is why the market is expected to post a CAGR of 36.41 percent for the 2012-2016 period. SMBs are the major adopters of cloud-based storage solutions since they have limited capital resources. Cloud-based storage services are cheaper compared to traditional storage services. Further, with virtualized storage infrastructure being adopted by storage service vendors, a higher performance is being witnessed.

One of the major concerns of enterprises is the safety and security of enterprise data and content in the network. With rapid developments in technology and increasing security features being incorporated into storage devices, there is a growing demand for cloud-based storage services because they have automated backup and recovery systems which ensure that the data stored in them is safe and secure from unexpected disasters.

Feature such as authenticated access to data and secured transmission to the end-user system is another factor driving end-users to opt for cloud-based storage systems. The storage devices have a function based on snapshot technology which has the capability to reinstate the system to the same state it was before disaster or system failure.

In fact, there are a number of applications being procured and used over the cloud infrastructure, which is leading to increasing demand for faster and more efficient storage space. There are some intermediaries between end-user and cloud-based storage service providers which ensure efficient and uninterrupted storage service to end-users.

The cloud-based application developers are integrating cloud-based storage with their applications as it is faster compared to accessing data from end-user systems' storage. Further, increasing adoption of handheld devices which do not possess storage space is leading to adoption of cloud-based storage services that offer a hassle free communication medium which provide uninterrupted service to end-users. Furthermore, increasing bandwidth allocation to end-users is enabling them to have faster access to the stored data in the network.

So what lies ahead for cloud-based storage solutions?

With huge digital content being stored and retrieved across the network, there is a need for data management solutions to be incorporated as part of the storage infrastructure. Data management involves automated backup, disaster recovery, and data caching, which form a key part of any efficient storage infrastructure. Cloud-based storage forms a part of private clouds and public cloud infrastructure.

The private cloud is accessed by end-users who are an integral part of an enterprise. The public cloud is open to all end-users and is accessed by anyone, which is cheaper compared to private cloud solutions. By catering cloud storage to a variety of end-users, vendors are able to achieve a greater reach which is expected to fuel market growth in the years to come.