63% of Enterprises Prefer Private Over Public Cloud Storage Solutions

63% of enterprises prefer private cloud storage solutions over public offerings like Dropbox, according to new research announced by CTERA Networks Ltd.

The research findings are included in CTERA’s 2014 Enterprise Cloud Storage Report, a research study of 200 IT professionals conducted in early 2014 by independent panel research firm Research Now.

The report examines the state of the cloud storage usage in the enterprise, and the measures being taken by IT departments to improve the security of cloud storage offerings in their organizations.

Key findings include:

Organizations are racing to establish contemporary cloud storage solutions that they can control. Of organizations that have implemented or are considering a file sync & share (FSS) offering, 63% indicated that they favor a private cloud storage solution run either on hosted (virtual private) infrastructure or in their own datacenter, with larger enterprises of 10,000 employees or more stating a preference for a completely private cloud.

The enterprise is moving quickly to deliver the collaborative and mobility benefits of cloud storage while also meeting their own internal control and privacy policies:

• 25% of organizations have already implemented private cloud file sync & share tools, while 20% of organizations have implemented cloud storage gateways.
• 45% of organizations are considering private cloud file sync & share tools, while 38% of organizations are considering implementing cloud storage gateways.

SaaS-based cloud storage offerings are creating organizational havoc. 31% of respondents indicated that they have experienced corporate data leakage in 2013 as a result of employees sharing files via often-unsanctioned FSS services. Additionally, 71% are concerned or extremely concerned about data breaches.

To prevent data leakage, 55% of organizations with 30,000 employees or more expressly forbid the usage of SaaS-based file-sharing solutions.

“Enterprises are seeking ways to capitalize on the benefits that cloud storage can provide, but not at the cost of losing control of their data. The market is flooded with SaaS offerings, but solutions that can scale on private and hybrid clouds are in short supply,” said Rani Osnat, VP of strategic marketing and customer experience, CTERA. “This independent research validates what we have been hearing from our customers: a clear preference for a platform they can manage and run using the infrastructure of their choice, with both enterprise-grade security and compelling end-user experience.”

To download the report (registration needed)