CA Survey: Cloud Adoption Growing, but Data Loss Continues

IT management software and solutions company CA Technologies (NASDAQ: CA) announced a new survey, “Insights: Data Protection and the Cloud,” that shows, among other things, data loss continues to plague North American companies.  Of the 300 U.S. and Canadian organizations surveyed  by Coleman Parkes Research in December 2011, all of them acknowledged data or application loss, yet only 26 percent said they have a data protection plan in place. That spells opportunity for the channel.

Regarding use of the cloud for business continuity, 55 percent of U.S. companies and 23 percent of Canadian respondents said they are planning to do so in the coming year. Almost half — 49 percent — of U.S. firms surveyed had increased data loss budgets compared to last year, while 14 percent reported a decrease in data protection expenditures. And in terms of data storage, private cloud is more popular than public cloud, with 76 percent of U.S. companies using a private cloud compared with 36 percent using a public cloud. In Canada, cloud storage rates are lower, with 28 percent storing data in a public cloud and 45 percent using a private cloud.

To my surprise, the sense of security among respondents was on the high side, a good sign for ongoing cloud adoption. For private cloud users, 84 percent of U.S. and Canadian companies felt that their data are adequately protected. For public cloud users, that figure was 73 percent.

“It is broadly acknowledged that cloud computing can offer many benefits to organizations that require more agile and cost-effective ways of delivering IT services,” said Bill Mann, SVP of Data Management, CA Technologies, in the press release. “This survey reveals that one of those benefits is improved data protection—which remains a huge challenge in conventional, non-cloud environments.”

Recently CA Technologies announced that its channel partners with the CA Automation Suite for Clouds proficiency now also meet the criteria for the Cloud Management Competency Validation criteria for the Cloud Builder designation under Cisco System’s (NASDAQ: CSCO) Cloud Partner program.

Talkin’ Cloud readers interested in the CA Technologies partner program can click here to learn more.