More agencies and offices are moving their mission critical data on to the cloud according to the latest data from Verizon Enterprise Solutions. The report “State of the Enterprise Cloud,” shows that between January 2012 and June 2013, cloud based storage has increased by 90% and cloud based memory has increased by 100%. The data also shows that the number of virtual machines (VM) may not be increasing as rapidly, but the size of deployed VMs is.
“I think the overwhelming message is, cloud is here to stay,” Norm Laudermilch Chief Operation Officer, Verizon Terremark Public Sector, tells CivSource. “Cloud is easier to deploy, easier to provision and the cost savings are really critical especially in public sector where budgets can be challenging.”
Product applications backed by cloud services now account for 60% of use, showing a movement away from development and testing, and into public-facing use. “The fact is citizens want more services and information available online, and cloud helps governments to provide that more quickly and at a lower cost than they have in the past,” he says.
Security and related compliance requirements are driving hybrid cloud growth in the enterprise and public sector, and require increased focus on the cloud provider’s data center. At the federal level, new FedRAMP requirements will likely continue to drive this trend, backed by the “cloud first” directive. At the state and local level, data center consolidation plans have been underway in most states for a few years. Cybersecurity concerns as a matter of national security have also increased the focus on the full range of cloud services, including hybrid cloud as agencies work to defend a new front.
“This is the biggest area of spend right now,” Laudermilch notes. “Once you can show the budget directors the cost savings they get it immediately.” Report data shows that organizations that were early adopters of cloud services have since increased their spend by 45% as more workflow goes on to the cloud. Organizations can easily tear down and deploy VMs which allows for organizational agility. Over the period of the study, the number of new VMs was up 35%.
In addition to FedRAMP and cybersecurity directives which will be front and center for IT shops across the public sector, big data will also increase the move to cloud services. Government is the biggest of the big data users, and is already dealing with storage concerns. This trend is only expected to continue as the amount of data generated and stored increases.
“Enterprise cloud has reached a tipping point,” the report states.