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New CloudPassage Study Finds Companies Increasingly Using Public Cloud for Business-Critical ApplicationsSan Francisco, CA, Dec 12, 2012 (PRWeb.com via COMTEX) -- The single biggest use-case for public cloud hosting is deploying external applications, according to a survey of more than 200 IT professionals released on Dec. 12, 2012 by CloudPassage, the leading cloud server security provider. Forty-one percent of respondents in the public cloud said they use cloud servers for their external applications, suggesting there is less trepidation about moving business-critical applications to the cloud. The findings also indicate that trend will continue in 2013. The next most popular use for public cloud hosting is the deployment of internal applications, with 36 percent reporting that they're using it for applications such as HR, CRM and ERP. Additionally, one-third uses it for internal development and testing, and 29 percent are hosting e-commerce applications in the public cloud. Big (data) plans for the cloud Looking forward, the survey found many have big plans for public cloud deployments, with big data and media leading the way for variable workload bursts into the public cloud. According to the research, 70 percent more people are planning to use public cloud environments for temporary workload/big data in 2013 as compared to 2012. Similarly, respondents said they plan to increase their use of cloud-based media hosting and internal development and testing in 2013 by 31 percent and 29 percent, respectively. "Big data might very well be the catalyst that will push adoption of public cloud into overdrive," commented Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData Corporation. "Real-time scalability will be key and a secure cloud will be the enabler." Forecast for cloud security concerns is optimistic Increased adoption of public cloud can be attributed, at least in part, to the fact that specific security concerns are beginning to fade. This year, just 23 percent of respondents said they are concerned about the lack of perimeter defenses and network controls in the public cloud. Only eight percent voiced fear about providers having access to their guest servers, whereas 20 percent are worried about the multi-tenancy of the public cloud. Companies are realizing that leveraging cloud hosting, while satisfying security and compliance requirements, can be achieved. "Security and compliance in the public cloud is not just a pipedream, but a reality that will have tremendous impact on the way companies architect their computing environments," said Carson Sweet, CEO of CloudPassage. "The fact that more organizations are deploying business-critical applications on public cloud infrastructure is a sign that the cloud market is poised for a dramatic uptake in adoption." However, some cloud security qualms remain. The three areas of greatest worry are security, compliance, and loss of control. Compliance issues were rated of high concern by 45 percent of respondents, which could be attributed to the general lack of guidance for companies looking to achieving compliance in the cloud. Users have better grip on security responsibilities The study also reveals an increased understanding of the role that the customer assumes in the cloud-hosting relationship - namely that cloud security is not the responsibility of the cloud provider, which was a common misconception only a year ago. When asked, more than three-quarters said they understand cloud security is their responsibility. CloudPassage conducted the state of cloud security survey in September 2012 among a pool of 201 respondents. Ninety-five percent of those surveyed reside in the United States. For more information, visit http://www.cloudpassage.com. About CloudPassage CloudPassage is the leading provider of public and private cloud server security and creator of Halo(R), the industry's first security and compliance platform purpose-built for elastic cloud environments. Halo operates across public, private and hybrid clouds. Industry-leading companies like Foursquare, Avatar New York, and Martini Media trust Halo to seamlessly manage their server security configuration, host-based firewalls, intrusion detection and server account auditing from one system. Headquartered in San Francisco, Calif., CloudPassage is backed by Benchmark Capital, Tenaya Capital and other leading investors. For more information, please visit http://www.CloudPassage.com. ### CloudPassage and HALO are registered trademarks of CloudPassage. All other trademarks are registered to their respective companies. Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/cloudsecurity/survey/prweb10225363.htm PRWeb.com |