Cloud Storage and Disaster Recovery The Dynamic Duo of IT
WRITTEN BY KEVIN O'CONNOR I
T may look like everyone is adopting cloud technology. However, IDG Research shows that
over half of IT leaders (56%) say they are still identifying IT operations that are candidates for a move to the cloud. PC Connection, Inc. is seeing more movement to cloud storage and disaster recovery (DR), because they provide immediate benefits and relief to both the IT environment and staff.
By the Numbers
Check out some of these revealing cloud storage and DR statistics.
• Most enterprises expect 50x data growth by 2020—rapidly growing data volumes like this are a challenge to effectively architect and replicate for availability.
• Worldwide spending on public cloud services will grow at a 19.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR)—almost six times the rate of overall IT spending growth—from nearly $70 billion in 2015 to more than $141 billion in 2019, and small and medium businesses (SMBs) will account for more than 40% of the worldwide total throughout the forecast period. IT staff in SMB companies are constrained, and cloud hosted IT services have the effect of adding staff by reducing operational overhead.
• Organizations embracing the cloud can increase revenues between 4–10% plus annually and reduce IT costs by up to 77%. Whether it’s improved capabilities, improved performance, or delivery of
customer-facing applications that deliver greater performance and value, the business benefits are numerous and real.
• The majority of companies (75%) are not ready to face a disaster.
• Close to half (43%) of companies that face an unplanned data center outage never reopen, and 51% close within two years—i.e., just 6% of these companies remain in business two years after an outage. With performance and resiliency outages as a major inhibitor to commerce, an environment that is more sustainable in the event of adversity brings real business value.
Key Considerations
While the consequences of not choosing cloud storage do not impact customer as much as not choosing cloud-based DR, they are very costly: 20% of cloud storage users recover from a site disaster in four hours or less; only 9% of non-cloud storage users say the same. In addition, the cost of cloud storage is declining at a rapid pace, what many call the ‘race to zero’, or as close to free storage as possible.
In what is seen as a three-horse race, with Amazon the clear leader, followed by Microsoft and Google—price reductions are taking place on a constant basis. Amazon has cut its prices more than 50 times since it launched AWS back in 2006, and there seems no end in sight as competitors try and keep pace. But customers need to understand that these commodity Cloud
IMAGES © ROLFFIMAGES / FOTOLIA
platforms put the onus on the client to build and deliver a majority of the solution themselves. Where as, other cloud solutions for storage and DR provide greater functionality and capability for those without the skills or desire to manage the environment.
The Benefits Are Clear
So what does this mean for you? The benefits of using the cloud for storage and DR are well proven, and the costs of not doing so are equally compelling. By connecting your on-premises data center to the storage pools or replication services of a public cloud provider, you get a tiered and resilient data protection strategy. Working together with a technology partner like PC Connection, Inc. you can design a solution to accomplish your objective— whether your goal is redundancy, primary off-site storage, or a storage pool for the delivery of a new application— with one of its public cloud service providers.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kevin O'Connor is the Senior Director, Cloud Solutions Group at PC Connection, Inc. with over 20 years of experience in the areas of software, cloud computing, and data center technology. He has been a contributor to Apache open source projects, the Java Specification Working Group, and AIIM. Discover more of Kevin’s insights on PC Connection, Inc.’s official blog, Connected,
atwww.pcconnection.com/OconnorBlog
WWW.PC CONNECTION. COM 1.800.800.0014
27
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88