Verizon Terremark Report Shows Cloud-Based Storage, Memory Thriving

Verizon Terremark's State of the Enterprise Cloud report, released last week, shows cloud-based storage increased 90 percent from January 2012 to June of this year. The report also states cloud-based memory jumped by 100 percent over the same period, while enterprises increased their average monthly spending on cloud by 45 percent.

According to Jim Anthony, vice president of Verizon sales and engineering, companies are increasingly adopting cloud due to pressures being placed on businesses to generate more income at a lesser cost.

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"Finally there is a way to deliver computational and storage resources in a safe, cost-effective manner that customers are willing to adopt," said Anthony. "It allows customers to deploy application so you don't have to think of purchasing; all of that is being taken care of. On top of that, the cloud is deployed in locations that are much more available in terms of back up capabilities. The idea of having capacity on demand is a big benefit."

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Industries adopting cloud include retail, oil and gas, financial services, automotive, pharmaceuticals, said Anthony.

"We're seeing adoption across the board in nearly every industry," said Anthony. "[Industries] are able to stay focused on their business with less emphasis on underlying technology to do so."

William Velez, chief information officer of Verizon Terremark partner Abarca Health, said he uses Verizon's enterprise cloud for Abarca's healthcare IT solutions, which processes real-time pharmacy transactions online. The type of data put into cloud consists of pharmacy claim transactions and business intelligence information, said Velez.

"Instead of having to spend time with the complications of upgrading servers and ordering parts and discs, we figured a cloud environment we trust would allow us to scale on demand," said Velez. "We have to be HIPAA compliant, and our information has electronic personal health information; that's why we also chose Verizon Terremark to stringently secure information on cloud."

While most companies are moving to cloud, Anthony states there are still some that remain reluctant in adopting. Particularly due to the vast amounts of cloud options available, reluctant customers are "afraid of the unknown," Anthony said.

"One category for late adopters of cloud are people who traditionally, because of the way their company has worked in the past, don't want to see servers leave premise," said Anthony. "They need to get over the detailed analysis and know how the security actually works."

The emphasis on security drives hybrid cloud growth, and when it comes to recommending cloud to customers, security is the first important detail, said Anthony.

"Security is the first conversation you have with every prospective with cloud," said Anthony. "We address it head on, analyze every environment we sell to a customer, and how you configure is up to you."

According to Amy DeCarlo, principal analyst of managed IT services for Current Analysis, the frequent adoption of cloud shows the potential of new cloud technologies.

"Businesses are moving applications for many different reasons that make it attractive besides economy, flexibility, rapid deployment technology, and cheaper," said DeCarlo. "This study is another resource to see what people are doing at this point and time; this is evolving and moving forward."

PUBLISHED SEPT. 6, 2013