Investment in Cloud Computing is expected to rocket significantly in coming years, according to recent findings of the technology analyst firm, Gartner. The analyst house predicts the global Cloud market will reach $148.8bn by 2014, up from $58.6bn in 2009.
Interestingly, Gartner reports the financial services, manufacturing, communications and technology industries are the largest adopter of Cloud Computing services and will continue to generate volumes in this segment. Although there's lots of hype around Public Cloud much of this growth for the time being will be driven by the building of Private Clouds, which according to Gartner is currently a core strategy for the majority of large organisations.
This view reflects what we found in our annual benchmark survey of delegates attending the International Supercomputing Conference that took place in June this year. The survey shows there's a greater level of understanding about the benefits Private Cloud can offer enterprises. Last year we found improving efficiency was a key driver for adoption of the technology. This year, however, we discovered the drivers for Private Cloud have evened out with efficiency, cost cutting, experimenting with Cloud and resource utilisation all being cited as key drivers. This suggests IT executives are more informed than ever about how the technology can make an impact on enterprise operations.
We also asked delegates whether they consider Cloud to be a new concept and found 62% believe it to be an extension of clusters and grids, with only 17% thinking of it as a new technology. This finding indicates that greater awareness of Private Clouds has resulted in recognition that Private Clouds are the natural next step for organisations already using clusters or grids. It also counteracts the widely reported view that many organisations remain confused about the technology and the ways in which it can benefit enterprises.
When it comes to Public Cloud it's a different story with concerns hindering large-scale adoption. According to recent research by IDC these concerns include risks surrounding security and availability. Given the number of high-profile service outages Public Cloud providers have experienced it's not surprising these issues remain top of the agenda for IT executives. Although it's true that hybrid set-ups, in which organisations make use of Public and Private Cloud, are popular we found not all are convinced. According to over three quarters of those that we spoke with their organisations have no plans to use an external Cloud provider in 2010 for 'Cloud bursting' when internal resources are stretched.
Although this is likely to change in the months ahead it suggests for now, focusing just on Private Cloud is a key priority.
Private Cloud allows organisations to embrace the benefits of Public Cloud while at the same time addressing any security worries they may have about hosting data beyond the corporate firewall. It also means enterprises can make full use of their existing IT assets by pooling unused resources rather than automatically going with an external Cloud provider.
Major organisations such as CERN – the world renowned nuclear physics laboratory – have established Private Clouds giving them control combined with the flexibility needed to handle vast amounts of data and solve the world's greatest mysteries.
It's a great example of the advantages Private Cloud can deliver and one which many others are playing close attention to. While Public Cloud is definitely on the agenda the concept of 'Cloud bursting' is some way off for the time being. For now, organisations are keen to keep applications in data in-house because of concerns enterprises have and the fact most are keen to make full use of their existing IT infrastructure before going for external support.
Christoph Reichert is VP of HPC EMEA, Platform Computing.
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