Contradicting current received wisdom, security concerns are actually driving cloud adoption. More particularly, disaster preparedness is driving the adoption of private cloud computing, particularly with SMBs. The cause is fairly obvious. There are two great pressures on business: economic and regulatory. Regulatory pressure demands adequate data backup. Economic pressure demands the same, but backup as near to instantaneous recovery as possible. The implications of a business without access to its own data is not lost on anyone. But the current economic climate also requires cost savings rather than capital investment.
Virtualization promises those cost savings: in reduced floor space, fewer physical servers, consolidated power costs, and rationalized maintenance costs. Server virtualization (a basic component of the private cloud) coupled with storage virtualization (ideal for realtime disaster recovery) and possibly a virtual desktop infrastructure (an excellent component for secure mobility) are all inter-related and potentially best-delivered within a private cloud. Rapid or almost instantaneous disaster recovery is a simple extension of the virtualized private cloud.
It is little wonder that despite the general perception that security concerns are delaying the adoption of cloud computing, this latest Symantec survey is finding the opposite for the economically pressured but more agile smaller companies where private clouds are concerned. Forty-three percent of Symantec’s respondents say they have already or are in the process of implementing a private cloud. Thirty-seven percent of respondents said that ‘disaster preparedness’ was a major factor in adopting private cloud. Seventy-one percent said that server virtualization has improved their DR stance.
The Symantec report offers four recommendations, from ‘start planning now’ to ‘review and test your disaster preparedness.’ However, any business that doesn’t find these to be self-evident should consult a third-party virtualization and private cloud specialist to develop a detailed implementation schedule. As the report concludes, “Given that many SMBs are facing extreme competitive pressures and have limited day-to-day resources, creating a disaster preparedness plan might not be at the top of the priority list. But it should be. Events over the past year or so have shown the kind of impact natural disasters can have on business continuity.”