Public Cloud Computing and Managed Hosting Services

The promise of cloud computing and application hosting benefits are already delivering practical solutions to very real business problems, according to the latest market study by In-Stat. In fact, many small businesses are using managed cloud services as their primary method to solve a variety of IT requirements.

"Web hosting and data storage are the most obvious IT needs that can be addressed by public cloud services" says Greg Potter, Research Analyst at In-Stat.

"With the advent of Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings many businesses are realizing that much of their IT needs can be fulfilled without the need for expensive networking equipment and high-end computers."

Moreover, many small businesses are now re-visiting the use of thin clients for most of their employees, as the need for increased computer processing power is rendered moot by the cloud.

SMB IT Applications Transition to the Cloud

For the SOHO and small business market, there is considerable opportunity for a variety of cloud service providers. According to In-Stat’s latest market assessment, small business spending on public cloud services in 2010 was roughly $3 billion.

As a direct result of this growing demand, In-Stat forecast that public cloud computing revenues are set to increase well over 100 percent from 2010 to 2014.

This significant increase is changing the IT infrastructure paradigm in small office and home office (1-4 employees) and small business (5-99 employees) environments – it’s also transforming business technology application scenarios.

In-Stat’s research shows that SOHO and small businesses will comprise roughly 65 percent of the public cloud computing market in 2014.

Hybrid-Cloud Appeals to the Larger Employers

Mid-sized (100-999 employees) and enterprise (1000 and more employees) businesses have other issues to consider -- primarily security and the cost of transition, when evaluating their choices for cloud computing solutions.

For these companies the choice between public and private clouds will dominate their decision-making processes.

In-Stat believes that private clouds give businesses that are securing sensitive data an alternative to the public cloud, as they can realize cost advantages and improved utilization of IT equipment over a traditional physical infrastructure deployment.

A great number of enterprises are running virtualization software on their current infrastructure, and they’re already recognizing the cost savings yielded by utilizing cloud infrastructure.

For those companies not already utilizing a private cloud platform, In-Stat believes that the public cloud offers an appealing demand-based payment model and scalable infrastructure solution.

In the end, some large companies will very likely choose the hybrid cloud approach -- moving their mission-critical information and applications to a private cloud, and then partnering with a public cloud infrastructure service provider for their other remaining application needs.

Borderless IT Infrastructure for Competitive Advantage

Cisco commissioned a study of present-day challenges that companies face as they strive to address employee and business needs amid increasing mobility capabilities, security risks, and technologies that can deliver applications and information more ubiquitously -- from virtualized data centers and cloud computing services to traditional wired and wireless networks.

The results of this international workplace study reveals that many people now believe that they no longer need to be "in the office" anymore in order to be truly productive.

This and other findings provide new insight into the expectations, demands, and behavior of today's global workforce -- that's influencing the way information is accessed and how business communications are changing.

"The Cisco Connected World Report gives further insight into the future of the workplace and it is clear from the research findings that the desire among employees to be more mobile and flexible in their work lifestyles is extremely strong throughout the world -- as strong as salary, said Marie Hattar, Vice President, Borderless Networks, Cisco.

She added, "It is also evident that organizations need to embrace a borderless IT infrastructure to capture competitive advantage and increase employee satisfaction. The employee desire to be productive anytime, anywhere, using any device provides an opportunity to embrace the agility and flexibility provided through a Borderless Network Architecture."

Key Findings from the Cisco Connected World Report include:

• The study, which involved surveys of 2,600 workers and IT professionals in 13 countries, revealed that three of every five employees (60 percent) believed it was unnecessary to be in the office to be productive. This was especially the case in Asia and Latin America. More than nine of 10 employees in India (93 percent) said they did not need to be in the office to be productive. This sentiment was extremely prevalent in China (81 percent) and Brazil (76 percent) as well.
• Two of every three employees surveyed (66 percent) expect IT to allow them to use any device -- personal or company-issued -- to access corporate networks, applications, and information anywhere at any time, and they expect the types of devices to continue diversifying. In the future, employees expect their choice of network-connected endpoints to broaden to non-traditional work devices like televisions and navigation screens in cars.
• For employees who can access corporate networks, applications, and information outside of the office, about half of the respondents (45 percent) admitted working between two to three extra hours a day, and a quarter were putting in four hours or more. However, extra hours do not translate to always-on, on-demand employees. They simply want the flexibility to manage their work-life balance throughout their waking hours.
• Employees also feel strongly about having the flexibility to work anywhere that it would dictate their company loyalty (13 percent), choice of jobs (12 percent), and morale (9 percent). For example, two of three employees worldwide (66 percent) said they would take a job with less pay and more flexibility in device usage, access to social media, and mobility than a higher-paying job without such flexibility. This percentage was higher in some countries, such as Spain (78 percent), despite economic woes the past couple years.
• Almost half of the IT respondents (45 percent) said they are not prepared policy- and technology-wise to support a more borderless, mobile workforce. Not surprisingly, security is the top concern.
• Although many of the IT respondents felt security (57 percent), budget (34 percent), and staff expertise (17 percent) were the biggest barriers to enabling a more distributed workforce, employees often felt IT and corporate policies were the obstacles. This perception among employees was extremely prevalent in India, where more than half (58 percent) felt IT was the obstacle to a more flexible work style.