10 ways the cloud can help your business

Cloud computing is one of the major issues being discussed in the federal IT community. Just last week, federal chief information officer Vivek Kundra announced the progress various agencies are making in an effort to hit the administration’s cloud-first goals.

Bucholtz goes into detail on how each of these cloud benefits can help make a business stronger. Be sure to check out his piece for more.

In its latest report, Forrester Technology estimates the global cloud computing market will grow to $241 billion by the year 2020. That’s up from $40.7 billion in 2011.

The executive summary

According to the executive summary, the report "forecast[s] shifts in the usage patterns of infrastructure, platform software, and business applications."

The Fed Cloud Blog told you previously this week about a recent survey of federal IT professionals by InformationWeek. The survey showed 58 percent of respondents are either already using cloud computing or plan to be using it within the then and there 12 months.

Otto was the former chief information officer at the U.S. Postal Service and offered some advice on how cloud computing fits in to data center consolidation.

29 percent of federal IT professionals are currently using cloud computing and another 29 percent plan to be using it within the then 12 months, according to the latest survey from InformationWeek Government and InformationWeek Analytics.

ConcernFederal lawyers

Cloud computing e-discovery risks a concernFederal lawyers and record managers are watching closely how the General Services Administration, the Agriculture Department and others move their email and collaboration services to private sector cloud computing providers. Federal News Radio’s Jason Miller says they have questions about accessing data if the government faces a lawsuit.

While a private cloud may seem like the best idea to get your feet wet is that the best way to go? Experts tell Network World “a better approach is to evaluate specific applications, factor in security and compliance considerations, and at the time decide what apps are appropriate for a private cloud, as then as what apps can right away be shifted to the public cloud.”

John Sloan, lead analyst with Info-Tech Innovation Group, tells Network World he understands why some organizations may gravitate to the private cloud for security reasons however, he cautions, private clouds aren’t necessary for every company or for every bit of data.

And if you feel the need to be in a private cloud however don’t have the resources for it, there are other options out there as then, like virtual private clouds. In an interview with Network World, Brandon Gage, senior vice president of research for United Capital Financial Partners, says using a virtual private cloud has saved his company 65-70 percent in the first year alone.

70 percent of data center managers say they are already using or plan to use cloud computing, according to a survey by AFCOM. Of that 70 percent, 36.6 percent of respondents are already using the cloud. That’s up from 14.9 percent of managers surveyed in 2010. Nevertheless, another 28 percent tell AFCOM they have no plans for the cloud at this time.

On top of that, according to ZDNet.com, the AFCOM survey says "80 percent to 90 percent of data centers will have some form of cloud computing in the straightway five years."

Separate report

In a separate report, Gartner says the increased use of cloud computing is one of the factors that will lead to smaller data centers. According to the report, data centers could be 40 percent the size of what they are today by 2018.