As Security Concerns Loom, Enterprise Buyers Prefer the Private Cloud

Private cloud deployments across workloads is the primary preference among enterprise cloud service buyers, according to new research that  found concerns about security run rampant among IT decision makers.

In fact, 70 percent of responders said they wanted to run financial applications and ERP in a private cloud setting, 60 percent said the same about e-mail and collaboration, and 55 percent said private cloud was the place for custom applications, according to the Everest Group report “Enterprise Cloud Adoption Survey 2013.”

These results show that security continues to emerge as the strongest inhibitor of cloud adoption, followed by concerns around integration. However, the report’s authors assert that buyers might be overestimating the challenges of public cloud adoption, with outages being widely publicized by the media.

In addition, the way public cloud providers “sell” the cost benefits of public cloud may need to shift to focus more on total cost of ownership (TCO) and return on investment (ROI).

“Public cloud providers may need to modify their communication on the cost benefits of adoption from a pure cost/unit conversation to one that is more focused on TCO and ROI,” the report said.

In addition, the study revealed that while Amazon Web Services (News - Alert) (AWS) dominates the public cloud market, other players such as Google, AT&T, Rackspace and others will continue to heat up.

When it comes to public cloud suppliers, the survey participants had a usage pattern that might reflect the general marketplace: 27 percent were already using Amazon Web Services; 19 percent were “aware of and likely to consider” using Amazon; 27 percent were not considering using it; and 27 percent said they were not aware of the service.

The results of the Everest Group study will be presented by Everest Group analyst Scott Bils in an April 2 presentation at UBM’s Cloud Connect conference in Santa Clara, Calif.