Security concerns hinder cloud computing adoption

Concerns about the security of cloud computing environments top the list of reasons for firms not being interested in the pay-per-use hosting model of virtual servers, according to a survey by Forrester Research.

Forty-nine percent of survey respondents from enterprises and 51 percent from small and medium-size businesses (SMBs) cited security and privacy concerns as their top reason for not using cloud computing. The survey of more than 2,200 IT executives and technology decision-makers in Canada, France, Germany, the UK, and the US is Forrester’s largest annual survey of emerging hardware trends for both enterprises and SMBs.

Other key highlights of the survey include:

• X86 server virtualization adoption has now reached most firms. Seventy-two percent of enterprise respondents are using or upgrading x86 server virtualization, up from 54 percent in 2008. Fifty percent of SMB respondents are using or upgrading x86 server virtualization, with an additional 24 percent planning to do so within the next 12 months.
• Cloud computing adoption is lagging. The firms surveyed showed low interest in pay-per-use hosting of virtual servers, one of many types of cloud service offerings in the market. The percent of enterprise respondents using pay-per-use hosting of virtual servers is effectively unchanged from 2008, with three percent using or expanding usage, although the percentage interested and without specific plans has increased. Only four percent of SMB respondents have already implemented pay-per-use hosting of virtual servers compared with two percent in 2008. Security, maturity, and concerns about costs led as the reasons why firms are not using cloud-hosted servers.
• Green IT awareness is rising. Interest in increasing the electrical efficiency of the data center rose from 2008, with 60 percent of enterprise respondents saying they are interested or very interested in doing so compared with 51 percent last year.

“2009 has been a challenging year for hardware and infrastructure technology vendors, but users’ 2010 investment plans indicate that this market is set for a rebound next year,” said Tim Harmon, senior analyst for Forrester. “Despite the hesitancy about cloud computing, virtualization remains a top priority for hardware technology decision-makers, driven by their objectives of improving IT infrastructure manageability, total cost of ownership, business continuity, and, to a lesser extent, their increased focus on energy efficiency.”