Clouds through the eyes of IT professionals: vision and expectations
Information for most organizations of our century has become an extremely important element. Like the blood circulating in the body, the information delivered at the right time and place, plays a decisive role for the functioning and development of the business. The avalanche-like growth of its flows, which IT companies and not only them now faced, required the search for new ways to work with data, its storage and management. The answer to the question "what's next?" not long in coming. The growth of Internet channels and their universal availability gave rise to this answer - “Cloud Services”.
The clouds that have come up have truly unlimited data management capabilities. Public, private, hybrid (a mixture of the first two) - these are all models of access control to information that is not located on the old Terabit “Seagate” in the back room of the network administrator, but in the ultra-modern TIER III-IV data centers with an established automatic backup system and round-the-clock availability of data from any bear corner where the Internet is present. At the same time, cloud services may not be very effective for companies that, say, use various software products that are little coordinated with each other for production needs. The solution to the difficulties can be the complete transition of the company's office work to a single software platform, from a single supplier. It is this way of optimization that many companies have now taken, this is a trend. Within one software environment, it is often very easy to organize backup, archiving and data recovery.
A recent study by QuinStreet Enterprise Research (QSER) showed that 35% of respondents in their work experience using one to three software systems, 56% use four or more. The study also showed an obvious, but no less interesting feature: two-thirds of the respondents spoke in favor of moving from the multitude of software that they now face at work to a unified data management software environment.
The research company QSER is an integral part of the media holding, which also includes such online publications as EWeek, Datamation, CIO Insight. The survey conducted by the company, including employees from 223 large IT companies. The main objective of the survey was to find out the opinion of the employees of these companies about the possibility of transferring their activities to a single software platform. Also within the scope of the study was the task to identify the main advantages and disadvantages of using cloud services.
As can be seen from the data presented, the first question led the respondents to a little confusion, there was no single clear leader in the answers. And the question was: "The benefits of using all data management from a single interface." But it became clear that about three-quarters of the respondents considered the main advantage of the transition to be the increased efficiency of the work performed. Nevertheless, for a third of respondents, this advantage was not significant enough to guarantee a departure from the current solutions. Such a position, unwillingness to change something, as can be seen from schedule No. 2, can be caused by existing contracts with software manufacturers, as well as the costs associated with a large reorganization. If you return in more detail to those who see the pluses in consolidated software, then it is worth looking at chart No. 3. Data safety, in one form or another, made the leader among those requests that were voiced by company employees. About 80% see the role of cloud-based consolidated data management systems in protecting information from all kinds of unpredictable cases of its loss, the risks of which are an integral part of our lives. Immediately after the request for security, there is a request for replication and deduplication of data. Also, respondents praised the increased ability to analyze stored data, and ease of access to it.
Many organizations are actively looking for new opportunities for storing and processing data with minimal investment. And the more they switch to cloud services, regardless of whether they are public or private, the faster the technology associated with this service improves and becomes the ideal place to store and process data. The current situation is a response to the avalanche-like migration of companies into the clouds that we are currently observing.
For many companies, the closed-cloud operating model provides an acceptable level of information protection and control. As a result, a whole service market is expanding here. As can be seen in Chart 4, almost half of the cloud services currently in use are private infrastructure projects with limited access to them. The remaining half of the requested capacity is divided between public and hybrid (a mixture of open and closed cloud) services. Examples of the best-known open clouds are Amazon Simple Storage, Service (S3), Microsoft Azure Storage, and Google Cloud Storage.
Most of the respondents who were well versed in the tasks facing data management in the clouds formed schedule 5. If you analyze all the answers, it becomes obvious that 70% of the interviewed IT companies employees clearly had experience in managing data in cloud services.
It’s rare when organizations use only one type of cloud service, often even within the same unit there is a place to use both closed, and open, and hybrid clouds. Each such cloud needs its own control shell, which further increases the management costs of such systems. It is already obvious that a single platform on the basis of which data management can be implemented will have to go a long way of improvement before it can be fully put into operation and satisfy a wide range of consumers.
As already mentioned, the priority of tasks for potential migrants, who must decide the transition of data to cloud services, is different. For those who focus on open and hybrid clouds, the main reason for the move, for example, was cost optimization, as stated by more than 80% of respondents. Figure 6 highlights the main preferences of the respondents that they plan to soon move to the clouds, or have recently done it and expect these effects.
Clouds, of course, have their own unique advantages. To get the maximum effect from using this service, you need to use them as widely and efficiently as possible. “Unlimited" capacity, data availability make the clouds truly a unique solution. But also do not forget about the accessibility in these services of already ordinary levels of security of access to the data placed there and their convenient monitoring.
Chart 7 shows the top 5 cloud features, identified as the most important. Almost all respondents rated very highly the data security that these services provide. Respondents noted that the possibility of using a single software platform in the clouds will allow for faster and more convenient implementation of tasks.
Clouds, like any other solution, have their costs. More than 30% of respondents see problems in the speed of clouds, problems with management, the complexity of implementing this solution. These are the main among the list of reasons that slow down the migration of data arrays to the clouds. Chart 8 illustrates the top 5 most challenging moments in cloud functioning.
As the information component for the activities of enterprises is gaining importance, effective methods for placing and managing this data become more and more popular. Today, enterprises have a huge selection of options for archiving data, monitoring them, and creating backups. The ability to migrate to the clouds is an option that complements the existing list of solutions, providing some new features. Often companies tend to get rid of more applications through which they operate with information, in favor of the smallest possible number. And here it is obvious that the approach to data management based on one platform, which is also implemented in the clouds, is the ultimate goal that the vast majority of organizations strive for.
This survey took place in June 2014. Respondents were sent questions by e-mail, the first 100 participants who completed the survey received a reward from Amazon in the amount of $ 10. Of the total number of respondents who participated in the survey, 223 were employees of IT companies with a team of 500 or more employees. According to the methodology, the average statistical error of the data is ± 6.8%, the general confidence level to the survey data was 95%.
The clouds that have come up have truly unlimited data management capabilities. Public, private, hybrid (a mixture of the first two) - these are all models of access control to information that is not located on the old Terabit “Seagate” in the back room of the network administrator, but in the ultra-modern TIER III-IV data centers with an established automatic backup system and round-the-clock availability of data from any bear corner where the Internet is present. At the same time, cloud services may not be very effective for companies that, say, use various software products that are little coordinated with each other for production needs. The solution to the difficulties can be the complete transition of the company's office work to a single software platform, from a single supplier. It is this way of optimization that many companies have now taken, this is a trend. Within one software environment, it is often very easy to organize backup, archiving and data recovery.
A recent study by QuinStreet Enterprise Research (QSER) showed that 35% of respondents in their work experience using one to three software systems, 56% use four or more. The study also showed an obvious, but no less interesting feature: two-thirds of the respondents spoke in favor of moving from the multitude of software that they now face at work to a unified data management software environment.
The research company QSER is an integral part of the media holding, which also includes such online publications as EWeek, Datamation, CIO Insight. The survey conducted by the company, including employees from 223 large IT companies. The main objective of the survey was to find out the opinion of the employees of these companies about the possibility of transferring their activities to a single software platform. Also within the scope of the study was the task to identify the main advantages and disadvantages of using cloud services.
As can be seen from the data presented, the first question led the respondents to a little confusion, there was no single clear leader in the answers. And the question was: "The benefits of using all data management from a single interface." But it became clear that about three-quarters of the respondents considered the main advantage of the transition to be the increased efficiency of the work performed. Nevertheless, for a third of respondents, this advantage was not significant enough to guarantee a departure from the current solutions. Such a position, unwillingness to change something, as can be seen from schedule No. 2, can be caused by existing contracts with software manufacturers, as well as the costs associated with a large reorganization. If you return in more detail to those who see the pluses in consolidated software, then it is worth looking at chart No. 3. Data safety, in one form or another, made the leader among those requests that were voiced by company employees. About 80% see the role of cloud-based consolidated data management systems in protecting information from all kinds of unpredictable cases of its loss, the risks of which are an integral part of our lives. Immediately after the request for security, there is a request for replication and deduplication of data. Also, respondents praised the increased ability to analyze stored data, and ease of access to it.
Cloud data management is becoming more advanced
Many organizations are actively looking for new opportunities for storing and processing data with minimal investment. And the more they switch to cloud services, regardless of whether they are public or private, the faster the technology associated with this service improves and becomes the ideal place to store and process data. The current situation is a response to the avalanche-like migration of companies into the clouds that we are currently observing.
For many companies, the closed-cloud operating model provides an acceptable level of information protection and control. As a result, a whole service market is expanding here. As can be seen in Chart 4, almost half of the cloud services currently in use are private infrastructure projects with limited access to them. The remaining half of the requested capacity is divided between public and hybrid (a mixture of open and closed cloud) services. Examples of the best-known open clouds are Amazon Simple Storage, Service (S3), Microsoft Azure Storage, and Google Cloud Storage.
How to organize data management in the cloud
Most of the respondents who were well versed in the tasks facing data management in the clouds formed schedule 5. If you analyze all the answers, it becomes obvious that 70% of the interviewed IT companies employees clearly had experience in managing data in cloud services.
It’s rare when organizations use only one type of cloud service, often even within the same unit there is a place to use both closed, and open, and hybrid clouds. Each such cloud needs its own control shell, which further increases the management costs of such systems. It is already obvious that a single platform on the basis of which data management can be implemented will have to go a long way of improvement before it can be fully put into operation and satisfy a wide range of consumers.
As already mentioned, the priority of tasks for potential migrants, who must decide the transition of data to cloud services, is different. For those who focus on open and hybrid clouds, the main reason for the move, for example, was cost optimization, as stated by more than 80% of respondents. Figure 6 highlights the main preferences of the respondents that they plan to soon move to the clouds, or have recently done it and expect these effects.
Clouds, of course, have their own unique advantages. To get the maximum effect from using this service, you need to use them as widely and efficiently as possible. “Unlimited" capacity, data availability make the clouds truly a unique solution. But also do not forget about the accessibility in these services of already ordinary levels of security of access to the data placed there and their convenient monitoring.
Chart 7 shows the top 5 cloud features, identified as the most important. Almost all respondents rated very highly the data security that these services provide. Respondents noted that the possibility of using a single software platform in the clouds will allow for faster and more convenient implementation of tasks.
Clouds, like any other solution, have their costs. More than 30% of respondents see problems in the speed of clouds, problems with management, the complexity of implementing this solution. These are the main among the list of reasons that slow down the migration of data arrays to the clouds. Chart 8 illustrates the top 5 most challenging moments in cloud functioning.
conclusions
As the information component for the activities of enterprises is gaining importance, effective methods for placing and managing this data become more and more popular. Today, enterprises have a huge selection of options for archiving data, monitoring them, and creating backups. The ability to migrate to the clouds is an option that complements the existing list of solutions, providing some new features. Often companies tend to get rid of more applications through which they operate with information, in favor of the smallest possible number. And here it is obvious that the approach to data management based on one platform, which is also implemented in the clouds, is the ultimate goal that the vast majority of organizations strive for.
Methodology
This survey took place in June 2014. Respondents were sent questions by e-mail, the first 100 participants who completed the survey received a reward from Amazon in the amount of $ 10. Of the total number of respondents who participated in the survey, 223 were employees of IT companies with a team of 500 or more employees. According to the methodology, the average statistical error of the data is ± 6.8%, the general confidence level to the survey data was 95%.